A leading physician confirms the opinion that the best gargle for daily
use is that of warm water and salt. This should be used every night and
morning to cleanse and invigorate the throat. Where there is a tendency
to catarrh a solution made of peroxide of hydrogen, witch-hazel, and
water, in equal parts, will prove efficacious. Nothing should be snuffed
up the nose except under the direction of a physician, lest it cause
deafness.

Many speakers and singers have a favorite nostrum for improving the
voice. The long and amusing list includes hot milk, tea, coffee,
champagne, raw eggs, lemonade, apples, raisins,--and sardines! A good
rule is to eat sparingly if the meal is taken just before speaking. It
need hardly be said that serious vocal defects, such as enlarged
tonsils, elongated uvula, and abnormal growths in the throat and nose
are subjects for the specialist.

Whenever possible a speaker should test beforehand the acoustic
properties of the auditorium in which he is to speak for the first time.
A helpful plan is to have a friend seat himself at the back of the hall
or church, and give his opinion of the quality and projecting power of
the speaker's voice. It is difficult to judge one's own voice because it
is conveyed to him not only from the outside but also through the
Eustachian tube and modified by the vibratory parts of the throat and
head. A speaker never hears his own voice as it is heard by another.

Nothing, perhaps, is so taxing to the throat as long-continued speaking
in one quality of tone. There are two distinct registers which should be
judiciously alternated by the speaker. These are the "chest" register,
in which the vocal cords vibrate their whole length, and the quality of
tone derives most of its character from the chest cavity; and the "head"