A clergyman or others may for years have practised this habit without feeling the effect upon the throat; but as soon as they come to speak steadily for a half hour or more, and that, too, for the purpose of being heard in a large room, begin to realize a huskiness which soon develops into an irritation of the throat.
This finally develops into a congestion, and sooner or later into a cough, which results in the breaking down of the powers of the individual, and if it does not receive immediate and proper attention consumption may be the result. No medicine, however good, can give more than a temporary relief. So long as the cause (which is the misuse of the voice), remains, the difficulty must return. Sometimes “clergyman’s sore throat” is not introduced by huskiness; the first symptom observed is that of dryness or irritation. This is especially true if the voice is characterized by a metallic element. All these evils can be cured by proper vocal education, providing the patient does not wait too long.
CONVOLUTIONS AND FISSURES OF THE OUTER SURFACE OF THE CEREBRAL HEMISPHERE.
RELATION OF THE PROPER USE OF THE VOICE TO THE NERVOUS SYSTEM.
The vocal organs may be said to be tools, and the nerves the workmen appointed to use them.
Nerves are whitish and elastic bundles of fibers, with their accompanying tissues. They transmit nervous impulses between nerve centers and various parts of the animal body.
“Nerves are composed of one or more (sometimes nearly a hundred) nerve fibers, each fiber forming a means of communication between two parts more or less distant from each other.”—Dutton.
The brain is contained in the cranium, and may be said to be the controller of the entire nervous system. From it proceed twelve pairs of cranial nerves.