"The Creator has fitted this little vocal apparatus in the throat to a certain attitude of the body.
"The vocal apparatus of a cow is so fixed, that when her backbone is horizontal, she can do her best bellowing. If she were to stand on her hind legs, and stick her nose directly up towards the sky, she couldn't half bellow.
"The vocal apparatus in a girl's throat is fitted, not to a horizontal spine, but to a perpendicular one. The portion of the spine in the neck determines, mostly, the action of the music box in the throat.
"If you drop your-chin down on your chest, bending your neck, and then try to sing, you will find at once that the vocal box is all out of shape. Go to the opera and observe the singers. When they wish to make a particularly loud or fine sound, they don't put the chin down in the pit of the stomach, but they draw it back close to the neck, and hold the upper part of the spine, and, indeed, every part of the spine, in a noble, erect attitude. No, my dear Mary, you can not even speak or sing well without attending to my volume on the subject of the chin. Need I say again, that only in this upright position of the body can your lungs and heart find room to do their great and vital work? Need I say, that if you allow your head and shoulders to fall forward, and the organs of the chest to fall down on the organs of the abdomen, the stomach and liver and all the other organs in your abdominal cavity will be displaced, crowded and trammeled? My dear Japanese missionary, I have given you the most important rule of health, and if you observe it during your life among the Japs, it will do wonders in preserving your health and strength.
IMPORTANT HELP IN LEARNING TO WALK.
You are in haste to become a queen? The ambition is a noble one. You can hurry the change by another practice, which I will describe.
A charming lady of the grand, old-fashioned pattern, bore herself like an empress at eighty-six. I ventured to ask her:—
"Madam, what was the source of this remarkable carriage of your person?" She replied:—
"During my young life I carried a large book on my head one or two hours every day. My mother had been taught the practice in an English school, and she transmitted it to her daughters."
Some years ago there was devised a pretty iron crown, in three parts, which has been much used for this purpose. The first part, which rests upon the head, weighed nine pounds; when an iron ring was placed inside of this, it weighed eighteen pounds, and when the second one was added, the weight was twenty-seven pounds. This device was ornamental and convenient. But, while the crown is the best thing; any weight will do. A bag of corn or beans may be employed, A book will answer very well. I have frequently seen books used. You can use any large book of no value,—say a large law book,—and you will find that the effort to retain it on the head will secure a perfectly balanced, accurate movement of all the muscles of the body. Whatever weight is employed, let it be carried upon the top of the head, holding the chin close to the neck, thirty minutes in the morning, and about the same time before lying down at night. In this connection let me say that the use of thick pillows tends to produce a curve in the neck. The pillows should be hard and thin. I am glad to see that hair pillows of moderate size are being generally introduced.