the middle line, in the early stages of foetal life. This defect of structure leaves "an open passage from the mouth cavity directly into the nasal cavity" (Haeckel). Who can doubt that such serious defects of structure in so important an organ, or rather in two organs, the mouth and nose, should produce corresponding imperfections of the intellect or of moral sense? The fact that this form of imperfection involves the speaking apparatus, and lies near the brain, and makes its impress upon the face should be a signal proof to physiognomists of their effects upon the mental and moral status. I have reason to believe that congenital defects of the hand and feet are correlated with peculiarities of the temper or mental and moral states, but in a relatively less degree than where cerebral organs or facial features are involved. Byron was club-footed, caused, it is said, by his mother's almost insane bursts of anger during his prenatal life. In this connection, speaking of the moral sense, Emerson remarks that "veracity derives from instinct and marks superiority in organization.'

If mind were a separate entity, then the acts of the body would not affect mental conditions, but as physiognomy teaches that the mind and body are a unity, intermingled and interblended in the most complex and subtle manner, so it is apparent that all bodily states affect the mental and moral powers, and vice versâ, all mental states affect the bodily organs; hence it is that any facial appear ance which is congenitally abnormal or defective points to abnormal or imperfect conditions of the particular faculty of which that imperfect feature is representative. The organs of speech are indicative of both mental and moral powers, and these must therefore be enfeebled by defects of any part of the organs of voice, speech. and articulation.

Every slight peculiarity of speech betrays some individual characteristic of the reflective faculty. Excessive softness betokens hypocrisy and is the natural companion of a too-smooth face.

Very harsh voices belong to the rude and unfeeling. In this connection I may mention that I have observed a peculiarly harsh or coarse voice in those who were refined and intelligent, but who were foredoomed to bronchitis or consumption. In these cases a peculiar construction of the lungs and larynx produces the voice which I term the "consumptive voice." I have noticed this in the voices of those who were apparently in normal health, yet who did not have any other symptom of their coming doom, and this was unknown to them. The voice was inherited along with the peculiar construction of lungs and larynx which produced it. As voices cannot be described accurately by the pen,

* English Traits, R. W. Emerson, p. 120.

it is

impossible to give the reader an exact understanding of these differences. Now, if it is possible to read one trait of character in one instance by one peculiarity of the voice, it is logical to infer that all mental states and grades can be also thus read by the tones of the voices.

Many eminent observers have remarked the signification of tones. The following is to the point:

Words reveal the intellectual state. So we have the incisive and compact utterance of the clear thinker in contrast to the intellectual status of the wordy bankrupt. Voice reveals the sensitive state. None fail to appreciate the clear, honest voice of health and refinement, the mincing fop, the muddy vocality of vice. Inflections reveal the moral state. The positive inflection of the man of conviction, the circumflex of a double dealer, the mechanical and nasal whine of the hypocrite are interpreted by all.*

ate one.

It is indisputable that all are spontaneously and unconsciously influenced by the tone, pitch, and quality of the voices of those with whom they enter into conversation, and they as unconsciously act upon the knowledge which those voices reveal to them of the mentality and general character of those with whom they converse. Some voices soothe, while others irritate; others still fairly exasperLet a person with a rich voice, full of sympathy and intelligence, approach a company, and as soon as the tones of that voice are heard all are at once attentive, because its intonations announce the power of the individual to whom it belongs, and this intelligence is conveyed to the listeners in the most instantaneous and subtle manner, although the speaker may have as yet only uttered the commonplaces of salutation. Such voices command attention and respect wherever heard. Now, if intelligent, sympathetic voices involuntarily produce such decided effects upon those who hear them, is it not reasonable to suppose that voices of the opposite class convey an equal amount of intelligence as to their owner's mental and moral calibre? Let one with a sharp, thin, nasal twang, on a high-pitched key, endeavor to be heard, and there will be an immediate attempt of the company to retire to distant parts of the premises. Such voices cannot hold together any number of people for long, neither can such a voice produce other than a disagreeable impression upon the listeners, no matter how interesting the subject under consideration may be.

Sound creates form as it moves through the air, and, in accordance with the perfection of the instruments producing it, it will make an agreeable and intelligent or a disagreeable impression upon the listener. Thus voice is shown to be a real and tangible part of the individuality, and so much a part of the

* Vocal and Action Language, E. N. Kirby, p. 83. Boston, 1885.

physiognomy that it cannot be dispensed with in the delineation of character. I consider a fine conversational voice a great charm. It is more rare in America than a fine singing voice. There are several causes for this. In the first place Americans are relatively less muscular than the Europeans. They are also more nervous. Adding these two causes together, they produce the thin, highpitched nasal tones which are so distinctly American. This national peculiarity could be in a great measure remedied by parents and teachers were they to give slight attention to the pitch of the voice in childhood, and thus place the child's voice upon an agreeable key while it is yet unformed and easily modulated. The first days of the child in school should be devoted to teaching it how to breathe properly, and how to pitch its voice rightly in speaking and reading. No mere book-learning should take precedence of these two most important matters. General develop ment of the muscles and development of the lungs by breathing exercises, together with a properly-pitched voice, are studies of great importance to every child, for they conduce to health, long life, and certainly to beauty of form, attitude, speech, and physiognomical expression. Whatever aids normal exercise of the larynx, mouth, and lips assists beauty of facial expression. This can be easily proven by observing and comparing the dreadful contortions of the mouth and gasping for breath of an improperlytrained singer, with one who has had the best instruction. The latter exhibits lovely expressions of the mouth, and sends forth the loudest tones with ease and freedom. I have seen some faces, which in repose were very beautiful, completely distorted by the reckless or untrained movements of the muscles in talking and laughing. This was the result of bad habits of speaking, and could have been easily remedied by practicing before a mirror, as do many fine actors and elocutionists.

Unconscious imitation is often the cause of the ugly move ments observed in some faces. Many children contract strabismus by playing with cross-eyed children. The unconscious imitations by children of all sorts of abnormal muscular movements observed in those about them teach us two important things. One is that children should not be permitted to play with those afflicted with cross-eyes, Saint Vitus' dance, or jerking and twitching of the muscles, and trembling of the eye or eyelids, for in most cases they are imitated spontaneously, without special design on the part of the child.

The second lesson to be derived from this marked aptness of the muscles for unconscious imitation teaches parents with what slight effort children can be trained to perform a variety of things

tending to a knowledge of art and science, by the use of simple objects, such as are used in the kindergartens, without at all taxing the intellect. The movements of the child's hand in pianoplaying are among the harmless methods of exercising the muscles without at all overtaxing the brain, and children may be taught this or the use of any other instrument, such as the sewingmachine, before being taught to read.

Elocution is a fine study for young children, for the breathing exercises and light gymnastics practiced by the Delsarte system in particular not only develop the voice, but give grace and suppleness to all the limbs. The effect of elocutionary exercises upon the intellect is wonderfully strengthening to the brain as well as to the body. Instead of giving a child books to study to improve its thinking powers, a course of lessons in elocution would attain that object with more certainty. When I am asked to prescribe treatment for a dull child I invariably order gymnastics and elocutionary exercises, and the same course may be pursued with good effect by the child whose precocity of intellect threatens early decline. It is to be understood, of course, that a judicious use of these hygienics must be made under charge of a competent teacher.

The voice is capable of emitting sound independent of the organs of speech-the tongue, the lips, cheeks, and teeth; hence by this division of functions it must be apparent that the voicealone would indicate some traits distinct from those revealed by the articulate powers. This is really the case, and this analysis of powers shows how the voice is an indicator of vital, interior, moral, and physical conditions; while the organs of speech-the lips, tongue, teeth, etc., together with their manner of articulatingbelong by pre-eminence to the mental powers, with a subdominance of the moral and physiological states. Man could use the voice were he deprived of the power of articulating words, and use it with great power too, if he sought to develop it by proper exercise. The voice proceeds from the lungs, sustained by the muscles of the diaphragm, and thus the tone of the voice reveals the inner man-his amount of vitality, his bodily structure; hence the amount of energy, clearness, or feebleness of mind and body. This is well demonstrated by comparison of the tones of the different races of civilized men with their bodily structure. French speak more from the forward part of their mouth, with the teeth, tongue, and lips. The Italian speaks more from the middle of the mouth and the lips, while "the Englishman speaks with his whole body. His elocution is stomachic, as the American's is labial." * I think Emerson should have said that the

* English Traits, R. W. Emerson, p. 108.

The

American's is nasal, for in comparison with other nations we find that the majority of our countrymen and women pitch the voice so as to speak either in head tones or nasal tones; rarely do they use the chest tones. I am convinced the majority could develop fine chest tones were they trained to use them in childhood. The English are very muscular, and their lungs are relatively broad, and herein is the basis of a powerful and sonorous voice. In accordance with this broad, muscular build, the larynx must also be large and strong, and thus we have the foundation for those rich and beautifully-modulated voices heard in the conversation of most English people. The Englishman's voice reveals his sturdy, hearty, positive, sincere mind, as well as his compact, healthy, hardy body. The French speech is truly Celtic; unlike the Englishmen, they use the least energetic manner of speaking, i.e., with the forward part of the mouth, and the lips, and also nasal tones. This method is more indicative of surface feeling; it is not as interior, vital, and positive as that of the English. It is for this reason that the French supplement their language with such an infinity of gestures, and the effect of gestures is to call attention. away from the body, hence speech which requires many gestures to assist its explanation is never as solid, positive, vital, and sincere as a language that contains in its essence all these qualities. Now, the language of a race belongs to and is in harmony with the grade of development to which the race has attained. And the English language, in its construction, is like the Anglo-Saxon races in their bodily build, and its peculiar grade of development harmonizes with their intellectual and moral status as well; and in a certain degree the language suits the mind and bodily conformation of the Anglo-American people, who should endeavor to harmonize more completely with the genius of the English tongue by cultivating the chest tones.

The American method of using the voice is in harmony with their use of the language, for, unlike the English, they use the adjective portion most, whereas the English use more the Saxon part, or noun element; but the subtleties of this subject are, per haps, too complex for a work intended for popular reading. The science of physiognomy has its occult and esoteric department, like all things in Nature, but this I have endeavored to hold in abeyance in writing this work, for that which is most interior, hidden, and abstruse would seem to many who do not think profoundly to be fanciful, superstitious, or the effect of mere impractical imagination. I should wish never to have my ideas classified upon either of those bases, yet the fact remains that Nature has a secret arcana into which only those who have mastered her external phenomena