where there is no possible suggestion of cultivation we instinctively read
the broad outlines of meaning and feeling in the tones and inflections of
the voice. May it not therefore be possible that a finer culture will
reveal all the subtle shades of thought and feeling, and a more
discriminating judgment be able to detect these, just as the ethnologist
will reconstruct from some crude relic the history of an earlier
civilization?

We must remember, too, that first of all the voice is a vital instrument.
The physical condition affects most noticeably the quality, strength, and
movement of the voice. Hence we see that physical health is essential to a
good voice, and the proper use of the voice is itself one of the most
invigorating exercises that can be practised. All the vital organs are
called into healthful action through this extraordinary manipulation of
the breath, and the nervous system, both vitally and emotionally, receives
invigoration.

In the beginning, therefore, such vital conditions as are essential to the
production of tone should be considered.

First, a standing position, in which the vital organs are well sustained,
is essential. One cannot even breathe properly unless one stands well. The
weight should be mainly upon the balls of the feet, and the crown of the
head so positively elevated as to secure the erectness of the spinal
column. This will involve the proper elevation of the chest, the essential
freedom of respiration, and the right sustaining tension of the abdominal
muscles.

(_a_) Take standing position as follows: weight on balls of feet,
heels together, toes slightly apart; line of gravity from crown of head,