By his examination of the glottis he had the satisfaction of proving that all his theories with regard to the emission of the voice were absolutely correct.

Beyond that he did not see that anything further was to be gained except to satisfy the curiosity of those who might be interested in seeing for themselves the forms and changes which the inside of the larynx assumed during singing and speaking." Of similar purport is the word of the eminent baritone, Sir Charles Santley, who, in his _Art of Singing_, says: "Manuel Garcia is held up as the pioneer of scientific teaching of singing.

He was--but he taught singing, not surgery! I was a pupil of his in 1858 and a friend of his while he lived;[1] and in all the conversations I had with him I never heard him say a word about larynx or pharynx, glottis or any other organ used in the production and emission of the voice.

He was perfectly acquainted with their functions, but he used his knowledge for his own direction, not to parade it before his pupils." [Footnote 1: Garcia died July 1, 1906, at the age of 101.] The eminent London surgeon and voice specialist, Dr.Morell Mackenzie, says of the laryngoscope, "It can scarcely be said to have thrown any new light on the mechanism of the voice"; and Dr.Lennox Browne confesses that, "Valuable as has been the laryngoscope in a physiological, as undoubtedly it is in a medical sense, it has been the means of making all theories of voice production too dependent on the vocal cords, and thus the importance of the other parts of the vocal apparatus has been overlooked." Not only in regard to "registers" but in regard to resonance, focus, articulation, and the offices and uses of the various vocal organs, similar antagonistic opinions exist.

Out of this chaos must some time come a demonstrable system.
A generation ago the art of breathing was beginning to be more an object of study, but the true value of correct lateral abdominal breathing was by no means generally admitted or appreciated.