CHAPTER VI

A SERIES OF PRACTICAL HOWS

HOW TO BREATHE

And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.* -THE BIBLE

TH

HESE words were spoken several thousand years ago by one of the wisest of men, who was inspired by the Master of Life to utter words of wisdom for the guidance of the children of men. From the moment those divine words were spoken it seems as though man has been aiming to get along with as little of the breath of God as possible. The divine breath is given as freely now as it was at the time of the creation, and it is ever present to those who are willing to receive it, as, like God's love, it is not withheld from us, but we withhold ourselves from it. No soul is ever lost save through its own determination to go to destruction, and no body suffers for the want of the life-giving breath except through sin, ignorance, or wilfulness. The great English preacher, Charles H. Spurgeon, in a lecture to his students, thus expressed himself: "The next best thing to the grace of God for a preacher is oxygen." As the * Genesis, ii:7.

spirit cannot live without the grace of God, the body cannot exist without oxygen; and this oxygen is the lifegiving property of the air which is drawn into the lungs and distributed through the body by means of the blood. Correct breathing insures physical health in that it causes the blood to circulate properly through all the veins as well as through the arteries, thus carrying off the particles that otherwise would remain in the system, decomposing and poisoning the body with their dead matter. Proper breathing brightens the eye, makes ruddy the cheek, raises the spirits, clarifies the mind, ennobles the soul, and forms the voice. Sir George Mivart, the noted English naturalist, voiced a self-evident fact when he said: "Of all the functions of the body that of respiration is the most conspicuously necessary for the maintenance of life," but while it is understood by all thinking animals that they must breathe in order that they may live, it is not so clearly evident to man that he must breathe correctly in order that pure vocal tones may be produced and expressive speech formed.

The question of breath. This is of the greatest importance to the speaker, as by the action of the breathing muscles the voice is controlled in all things except modulation. Speech is breath and voice before it becomes speech, and the form it takes as it starts on its journey at the moment of its creation it must retain until it ceases to exist. Breath possesses three forms, effusive, expulsive, and explosive, and whichever of these forms it assumes at the start, it must retain during its transition

into voice and speech. After the pressure of the breathing muscles against the lungs has forced the breath into the larynx and produced voice through the vibration of the vocal cords until that voice has been formed into articulated sounds by the action of the hard and soft palate, the tongue, the teeth, and the lips, it must remain, so far as its form is concerned, exactly as it started. Effusive breath can produce only effusive voice, effusive voice can be converted into only effusive speech, and in no manner can this form be altered after the breath, has been expelled from the lungs. The voice is affected and modified by the resonance chambers, the organs of articulation, and the mentality of the speaker, but it must be one of the three forms, effusive, expulsive, or explosive, and it must retain this form from its birth to its death.

Respiration. Respiration is the process of taking air into the lungs and sending it out. The process of breathing is twofold, inhalation and exhalation. Inhalation is the taking in of the air, and exhalation is the sending out of the breath. Normal persons breathe about twenty times a minute; that is, they inhale twenty times and exhale twenty times during that period. When the air is received into the lungs, the oxygen is extracted from it, eaten up, as it were, and distributed through the system; and, on the exhalation, the carbonic gas and organic matter is carried out. If a person is confined within a limited space, and little air permitted to enter, he will soon consume most of the oxygen contained therein, poison the atmosphere with the carbonic gas which he throws off,

and die for the want of the life-giving property-oxygen. It is estimated that almost half the deaths are caused through improper breathing and the inhalation of vitiated air. Five hundred cubic feet of air every twentyfour hours is not too much for every human being.

The lungs are the organs of respiration. They are two in number, the right and the left. The right lung possesses three distinct chambers, and the left lung is made

up of two. The average adult has a lung capacity, in round numbers, of three hundred and fifty cubic inches, and uses about thirty cubic inches for an ordinary inhalation and exhalation, although it would be well if he used forty, or even fifty, cubic inches of his capacity. There are one hundred cubic inches of air always in the lungs of an adult which cannot be forced out by physical exertion and the human animal live. As soon as this reserve force of air is about to be drawn upon, nature cries out against its use, causes the being to pant, and forces him to seek other supplies.

The two lungs are joined to the trachea, or air tube, by means of the bronchial tubes, and at the upper end of the trachea is the larynx, or voice box. In the larynx are the two true vocal cords, the vibration of which produces voice; and this voice, passing into the mouth, is moulded into speech by the organs of articulation.

Control of the breath. There are muscles that act on the lungs and regulate the entrance of air and the exit of breath. The muscles are: pectoral, dorsal, costal, intercostal, abdominal, and the diaphragm. The pectoral

muscles hold up the chest and thus allow the air to enter the upper lobes of the lungs. The dorsal muscles press inward from the back and assist the abdominal muscles to regulate the action of the diaphragm. The costal and intercostal muscles cause the ribs to expand and contract, thus enlarging and decreasing the capacity of the cavity that contains the lungs. The abdominal muscles act directly on the diaphragm, causing it to fall and rise. The diaphragm supports the lungs and is the only muscle that comes in contact with them.

This is all the information regarding the anatomy of the breathing muscles that is necessary to an understanding of the instructions here given for gaining a knowledge of their proper use and management in connection. with the production of speech.

How is one to breathe properly? By inflating the lungs fully from their base to their apex.

How can this be accomplished? By bringing into use all the muscles that act on the lungs, particularly the abdominal muscles and the diaphragm. When inhaling there should be an expansion of the base of the lungs; and when exhaling there should be a contraction. The upper lobes of the lungs should be expanded all the time, the chest should be held upward and outward, whether the person is inhaling or exhaling; the air is first drawn. into the lower lobes, then gradually rises and forces the air out of the upper lobes, and immediately takes its place, the upper lobes being filled with air all the time, whereas the lower lobes are only filled immediately fol