BREATHING
All of the preceding, in a manner, may be said to be a preliminary argument for the great truth I claim to have discovered, namely, that in the sphere of the trunk of our body the material part of our nature is represented by the hemisphere of the abdomen, its immaterial part by that of the thorax; that in the sphere of the head a similar division obtains, in conformity with which it is also divided into hemispheres representing material and immaterial issues; and that every faculty, and the exercise thereof, have their being in a dual action, in close succession, emanating from these hemispheres.
The first proposition to be proven was that we breathe through the œsophagus, conjointly with the trachea. If all I have said in the preceding has not already convinced the reader of the truth of this statement, I trust the following experiments will thoroughly convince him thereof. These experiments will also furnish additional proof of the fact that English and German modes of respiration are of an inverse order.
Not the slightest fear need be entertained as to the result of these experiments. I have made the same, and others of a similar nature, over and over again, without being in the least discomfited thereby; and I may add that to the fact of having been entirely divested of fear, I largely owe my success in all these undertakings.
If you are an Anglo-Saxon, and make the muscles of your throat rigid, thereby stopping inspiration through the trachea into the thorax, you will soon experience a decided movement of the abdomen, in conformity with which it will first expand anteriorly, then posteriorly, and again anteriorly. There will now be a pause, after which the abdomen will be first expanded posteriorly, then anteriorly, and again posteriorly. This is as far as you can go; you will be compelled to release your hold on your throat after these six movements; the thorax meanwhile remaining passive.
Upon next making the muscles of the back of your neck rigid, equal to those of the œsophagus, the latter being thereby closed to respiration, you will soon experience a decided movement of the thorax, by which it will be first expanded posteriorly, then anteriorly, and again posteriorly. There will now be a pause, after which the thorax will be first expanded anteriorly, then posteriorly, and again anteriorly.
These twelve movements constitute one act of respiration during which inspiration and expiration for thorax and abdomen equalize each other. The first three movements of the abdomen, consisting of an inspiration, an expiration, and an inspiration, constitute what is commonly called an inspiration; the second three movements of the abdomen, consisting of an expiration, an inspiration, and an expiration, constitute what is commonly called an expiration. Of the six movements of the thorax succeeding these, the first three, consisting of an inspiration, an expiration, and an inspiration, are equal to an inspiration; the last three, consisting of an expiration, an inspiration, and an expiration, are equal to an expiration. We thus have four complete respirations, two of which, equal to an inspiration and an expiration, belong to the abdomen; and two, likewise equal to an inspiration and an expiration, belong to the thorax.
Inasmuch as each of these four respirations is composed of three separate movements, one complete respiration consists of twelve separate movements of the respiratory organs. This relates to our ordinary mode of breathing. For vocal utterance, more especially the utterance of a vocal sound, these four respirations are first made for the impression, and are then, in an inverse order, repeated for the expression. This gives us eight movements, or an octave of movements, for each vocal sound; these eight movements, as a matter of fact, consisting of twenty-four separate movements of the respiratory organs. These movements, which in our experiment were of relatively long duration, during our ordinary mode of breathing follow upon one another very rapidly; thorax and abdomen, which during our experiment were restrained, ordinarily and when unrestrained, acting and reacting upon one another in quick succession.
The preceding experiment gives us the following result:
All of the preceding has reference to the Anglo-Saxon mode of breathing.
Germans, under the same circumstances, will make movements of an inverse order.
The first movement of the abdomen will be posterior, the next anterior, the third posterior, which will be succeeded by anterior, posterior, and anterior ones; while the movements of the thorax will be anterior, posterior, and anterior, succeeded by posterior, anterior, and posterior ones. This shows that with Germans, expiration antecedes inspiration, while with Anglo-Saxons, inspiration antecedes expiration.
In our experiment, with Anglo-Saxons, inspiration took place in the abdomen by two movements anteriorly to one posteriorly, and in the thorax by two movements posteriorly to one anteriorly; while expiration took place by two movements of the abdomen posteriorly to one anteriorly, and in the thorax by two movements anteriorly to one posteriorly, as per this schedule:
| Anglo-Saxon | Abdomen |
|---|---|
| 1. Inspiration, | Ant., post., ant. |
| 2. Expiration, | Post., ant., post. |
| Thorax | |
| 3. Inspiration, | Post., ant., post. |
| 4. Expiration, | Ant., post., ant. |
In the case of a German, it would have been more proper, for our experiment, to have first closed the muscles to the œsophagus, and then those to the trachea, as Germans first breathe into the œsophagus and then into the thorax. Had this been done, the result would have been inverse to that of our experiment, as follows: The first movement of the thorax would have been one of inspiration, the same as the first movement of the abdomen; and the second movement of the thorax would have been one of expiration, the same as the second movement of the abdomen, thus:
| German | Thorax |
|---|---|
| 1. Inspiration, | Ant., post., ant. |
| 2. Expiration, | Post., ant., post. |
| Abdomen | |
| 3. Inspiration, | Post., ant., post. |
| 4. Expiration, | Ant., post., ant. |
This shows that the movements of the abdomen are the reverse of those of the thorax:
With Anglo-Saxons, in such a manner that, while for the abdomen inspiration takes place anteriorly, it takes place for the thorax posteriorly; and that, while for the abdomen expiration takes place posteriorly, it takes place for the thorax anteriorly;
With Germans, in such a manner that, while for the thorax inspiration takes place anteriorly, it takes place for the abdomen posteriorly; and that, while for the thorax expiration takes place posteriorly, it takes place for the abdomen anteriorly.
These various modes of breathing find an illustration in the following:
Anglo-Saxons, while carrying a burden (for which purpose it is necessary to hold the breath or to economize the same as much as possible), inspire into the abdomen anteriorly and the chest posteriorly, and in so doing expand the same accordingly; while Germans, under the same circumstances, breathe into and expand the abdomen posteriorly and the chest anteriorly. The action of the former tending away from the diaphragm, that of the latter tending towards it, exercise an influence on the spinal column which causes Anglo-Saxons while carrying a burden to assume an erect, Germans a stooping position. This has already been illustrated by calling attention to the difference between the position of the Greek and Gothic caryatides, the former representing the Anglo-Saxon, the latter the German mode of breathing. The order for German soldiers, "Brust heraus, Bauch herein"! ("Breast out, belly in"), for Anglo-Saxons should be, "Breast in, belly out"! The former gives German soldiers that stiff appearance, tending towards the diaphragm, of which Heine has said:
"Als haetten sie verschluckt den Stock,
Womit man sie einst gepruegelt."
("As if the stick they'd swallowed
With which they once were walloped.")
The fact that inspiration always consists in an inspiration, an expiration, and an inspiration, while expiration consists in an expiration, an inspiration, and an expiration, is one of the most interesting observations I have made in connection with these studies.
These facts may be generalized in saying: There is no action connected with life which consists of a single movement in any one single direction; every action, of whatsoever nature, if it is outgoing, consisting of an outgoing, ingoing, and outgoing movement; if it is ingoing, of an ingoing, outgoing, and ingoing movement; every superior movement consisting of a superior, an inferior, and a superior; every inferior, of an inferior, a superior, and an inferior one; every left movement, of one to the left, to the right, and to the left; every right movement, of one to the right, to the left, and to the right; the last movement only being visible and accompanying action.
While our experiment is representative of the general principles underlying our mode of breathing, the act of breathing, proper, is subject to many variations. During their waking moments, or for conversation, with Anglo-Saxons respiration takes place by thorax and abdomen changing off, alternately, while with Germans they succeed one another in the same manner as they did in our experiment, commencing, however, with the thorax instead of with the abdomen, and with expiration instead of with inspiration, as follows:
This shows an indirect movement for Anglo-Saxon, a direct movement for German respiration. Hence, English enunciation is necessarily slow, German relatively quick. It also shows that the reserve force with Anglo-Saxons is held before it is expended; with Germans it is expended almost as fast as it is engendered.
As there is an apparent discrepancy between the last schedule and the previous one showing Anglo-Saxon mode of inspiration, I want to remind the reader that our "experiment" was made mainly to set forth the fact that we breathe through the œsophagus conjointly with breathing through the trachea; but it was not intended to show our regular mode of breathing.
Though Germans and Anglo-Saxons breathe in opposite directions, still there is an affinity between them in so far as they breathe along the same plane. Peoples who speak any of the Latin tongues, on the other hand, breathe along a different plane, and so do Slavonic, Mongolian, and other races. Anglo-Saxons and Germans, therefore, though opposed to one another in one sense, are affiliated in another; and both may be, therefore, as they often are, said to belong to the Teutonic race, together with other peoples along the borders of the North and Baltic Seas. In a similar manner, no doubt, other races possess their similitudes and dissimilarities.
It should scarcely require any further proof on my part after this and all I have previously said to show that, if any of the peoples now speaking Latin tongues were in place thereof to speak English or German, they would, in the course of time, cease to be Frenchmen, Spaniards, or Italians, as the case might be, and would become Anglo-Saxons or Germans; or that, if any of the Slavonic races or peoples would do the same, the same result would eventually ensue; and also that, if Anglo-Saxon or German peoples were to speak Latin or Slavonic tongues in place of their own, they would eventually cease to be Anglo-Saxons or Germans, and would become the people whose tongue they were speaking; always provided, of course, that such tongues were to be spoken idiomatically correctly. Should any one still doubt that language is the mainspring formulating peoples and nations in all that essentially belongs to them and distinguishes them as such, I confidently believe that that which I shall still further have to say on this subject will eventually convince even the most obdurate of the correctness of these assertions.
The preceding schedules both for English-and German-speaking peoples show their mode of breathing during their waking moments and for the purpose of conversation. During sleep and for the demands of the singing voice, however, thorax and abdomen interchange with one another in so harmonious a manner that their inspirations and expirations appear as one respective inspiration and expiration.
The following schedules will show the relation of metre and rhythm to breathing.
Inspiration being of longer duration than expiration, I have in the following signified the former by the sign for long (¯), the latter by that for short (˘); while for the rise of the voice I have used the sign for acute (´), and for its fall that for grave (`); for comparison, see schedule on page [202].
| Anglo-Saxon Abdomen | Thorax | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Inspiration, | `´` | 3. Inspiration, | `´` |
| ¯˘¯ | ¯˘¯ | ||
| 2. Expiration, | ´`´ | 4. Expiration, | ´`´ |
| ˘¯˘ | ˘¯˘ | ||
An experiment may be made by an Anglo-Saxon adopting the German mode of breathing and then attempting to speak English, or by a German adopting the Anglo-Saxon mode of breathing and then attempting to speak German, which neither will succeed in doing.
In making the experiments just now under consideration, it will not be necessary, after closing the muscles of the trachea or the œsophagus for the first six movements, to continue doing so, as the next six movements will ensue involuntarily. There may be several repetitions of these twelve movements involuntarily or automatically following after that; any special mode of breathing once assumed being apt to continue indefinitely until another mode is inaugurated.
The same experiments may also be made by making abdomen and thorax alternately rigid, or producing a state of rigidity through mechanical pressure, in place of producing it with the muscles of the œsophagus and the trachea. As this may appear simpler and "less dangerous," there should be nothing to hinder any one from making these experiments. The movements will not be as pronounced, however, in the latter instance as they are in producing a direct closure of the trachea and the œsophagus.
There is a fourth mode of producing the same results, namely, through the simple act of continuously "thinking" of any particular part. We may thus bring about a closure of the muscles of the trachea or œsophagus, of thorax or abdomen, etc.; thought, which precedes motion for vocal utterance, always, as cause to effect, being the final arbiter in all matters of respiration, unless the latter is of an involuntary and simply functional character. While the act of breathing for life pursues its even tenor, breathing for vocal utterance, though of the same order, is subject to innumerable changes in conformity with the sound, syllable, or word intended to be produced.
I am aware that there may be apparent incongruities in some of the preceding, and I presume there always will be. We can see things only from our limited standpoint. I have undertaken to solve matters supposed to be superhuman, or "of God," and hence perfect in their way, in a human, and therefore imperfect, manner. Our limitations naturally extending to our power of observation, the duality of our nature in matters of this kind does not permit us—I might say, forbids us—arriving at final conclusions. We can go as far as our understanding permits us to go—beyond that, we may at most indulge in speculation. I have limited myself to my limits, to what I could prove, and have but rarely indulged in what I could not—in speculation.
Note.—Since the above was written Dr. G. E. Brewer, who in conjunction with Dr. F. C. Ard, last month (March, 1899), in New York, successfully performed the very rare operation of laryngectomy, has told me that his patient had already (after a month) commenced to speak again, though as yet only in a monotonous whispering voice. She is doing so in spite of the fact that every vestige of her larynx, which had been in a diseased state, and which the doctor showed me, had been removed. When I told the doctor this mysterious "new" voice was that of the œsophagus and had always existed with his patient, as it exists with every one else, and had always been heard in conjunction with that of the trachea, he was greatly astonished, though naturally incredulous, but said he would investigate.