, 1875-02-01

knnrmonics OF Or9nnlc anu Animal


THE PHYSIOLOGY VI FFENSlFiCATl0s'
knnr,sof,ics OF Organic AMI Animal
Lift.
oiirer Wendell 1fol,nrs r. d. in the Medical and Sur
atfdl ,j0HFnHf.
Wo Arc governed III ntlr apparently voluntary
actiuna by Impulses tloriYud from many Obscure
sources WHICH net upon ns almost without orr
coHnizance. Tho digestive system legIAlntes
largely for orr habits, bodily and mental. aiM ilb
coulitton hAH insignificant etfcct upon our it,
te!iectuai nni spiritual states. We aro roil-
1naudel to a considerable extent by Off idinbyi,-
cractes and intirtntt,ts. Tho secret Of Or uircr-
biieH ns suctnI beings lies fur lnor0 II, Our 'cpo
capacities. iss indifference to exposure ur lla-
bility to slfrer froIn it, IN cur sGLshty to cniI
mud heat or to tho atr Of tlveutIiato! rooa, in
tl,e varying nmuunt OF slccp wo roInre, in the
degree Of ability to bear stronE light " the Het-
ncss or tlnllneAs Of our hearing. In the greater
or less degree Of fatigue out1nrcd Ivy the standing
posture, and in tho demands of Internal organs
which have will II nnt n voice Ut ihoir own,
than our friends who Gull l.B good companions
or o,!lcrwisn arc awasa ready to believe.
nenty distinguished by their rLyth,nca! cllhrac-
tcr,-tlic respiration mud tho pulso.. These are
tho true -kccers Of the body having COLI
Btaut rotation in Lcalt, tic pt oporton beiny, W
every four bcats Of tho heart. It in very easy IN
provo that tho first Of ticso rhytinlcat ACTIONS
! las nh intinnto relation with the Struclure Of
| mct1ica compositions, That the form Of ycrsn
| IL EOl1iaLlSHeu Wy ECCluIlf Ol LEuFO
movements which inanse tho nxygcnation Of tho
b1ona IL d fnct which many ila7o aeteu on tho
strength Of without knwirE why ttoy did 30.
Let III look first at tho natural rate Of rcRpi-
| ration. Uf l,Hi7 individuals who wcro the suit
| ieet Of AIr. lIltehinsoll's observations, "tl,o
great majority l731) breathed from sixteen to
twenty four sin,oH per minute. NcRry third
breutElea twenty times per minute, u humber
| which may he tuEen NJ tile avarage.'* ny
THO fatal faculty" of tho ortosyllahio meas
| uro has often been spoken uf without any refer
enco 10 Its roal cause The rcason why eight
ayIlabe yeise is 10 sinell'ary easy to read aloud
measure tic natural rhythm Of respiration. III
reading aloud i'll tho ordinary way from THO
Lay u tho Last t1instrel," from " Iii Melnnrlan"
| or from " "lIaN athu" all written in this neaa-
ure the ilrht two Of ianbics, or short-iongs, tAo
Inst In truclaics, or long BortB 1t will be found
Tint not 1ess Than sixteen nor moro than twenty
four lincB will be spoken In minute, probably
about twenty. 1t is nain, therefore, TINT II
QUO reads twenty lucs in min,ltb.
aud naturally broathos tho same number
or times during that minute, he will pronounce
one lnn to each respiration, taking advantage
Of the pauso It its closo for respiration. Tie
Ouly effort required is that Of Eocalizlng a,'a
artieulatlng; tho breathing takes oalo OF itne!f,
not even requiring q thought except where tho
sense may require patso tn tho middle OF q
line, The very fault found with these octoBylla-
bic lines il that they slip nwny too auontiy, aud
run easily i'll mono.onouA sing Song.
I In speaking. tl!o tcn-syllablc, or loroio line.
about fourteen lines will bo pronounced in tho
minute. II = brcath ia allowed to each line tl1o
respiration will Ia longer aud slower than nat
urul aud ac.Be of cllort aud fatigue wall soon
ba tllo consequence. 1t will bo remembered,
however, TINT tho ctrs'tra, or pause at tho cloHo
Of tlIe line, comes in az regular 'uIefya,s az q
brcathng-placo," WHICH terM ID lts de.iuItion
when applied to music. This gsos degree Of
roliof but Its management rotInlEcs caro- tn read
Ing and 1t entirely breaks up the natural rhythm
Ino fourtecn-syllablc verse, that of Capn,an'a
Homer, tho common nirtre OF our llymn-bnoks,
il broken in rcadinE into alternate lnca Of eight
and Bsx Byl!ables. This also s exceedingly eaBy
reading, allowing lino to each expiration, md
tho close Ut tho gix syllable Inc.
THO twclye-syllahlo linc, TINT Of Drayton'a
PtIyobloil. ia Utmost lnto]eralo, from its csson-
tially nnpl'ysloogical construction. Ono can
read the tt,.-syllnbo limo In d Binglo expiration
WITHOUT ANY considerable effort. One INSTINCT
lively divides tho juusffeh-syllaDlo luo so ait to
accommodate to tborespirator rhythm. But the
fltrlee-ByIlabla limo il too much for one expira'
tio,, and not enough fer two. For this reason
doubtless, 1t has becn ipstinctlyety ayoiuod by
almost hll writcEs in eyory period Of our ltera.
ture.
l!oeH Of length ynryiug from fourteen to seven
seen sy,IublcB, which are irrcgularly divided IL
reading for tie respiratory plHso. Where thc
lonAo does not require \ break ut so1no point Of
the line We divide it by accents, three ~ eacl
hut tue breaks which tile sonso requires no inter
fere with the regularity OF tho breathing as to
mako these parts OF "Ataud" among tho mos
difficult verses to read aloud, almost ns ailllcultat
tho Tolyolbion+
/, IL NAV bo Haid TINT the law Of relation here
: pointed out docs not apply to tho 1OrltiH3, Of
verse, however it may bo with rogurd to reading
OF deoaimins it, Dut tho carly poems OF 1eo.
plo arc recited OF sung before they Rrc commit.
tod to writing, and oven il q yersitier docs not
| read aloud us he writes, lie mentally articuatof
oyery line, and takcs cogntzance luHtlnctiyoly ol
its physiological! adjustment TO respiration ~ hs
does OF Its smoothnes8 OF rougaheba, "Alch hs
hcars only III Imagination.
! Tho critical Test Of puetry by tho stop-watch
) aud jts classification according to lta harnoriz
lux moro or }eHs o1ao.ly with great vital fnnc
tlou does NOT 70 very far, but ii IL allantitaty.
. aud oxnotly scientific 10 far as 1t does 30. Illt
ayerare reader will tn, ou trial, tLat the result
given above are correct. onouEh 10 justify th'
statements nlado. But here, AZ IN asts sonon,lca
observation, we MUST not forget tho porsona
4 equation. An individual Of amp|o c!lcat ant
I uiilel Temperament may breathe iiabituhliy on
' fourteen times a minute md tnd the heroic o
iau,bio peptamotse- tho verso Of popa'a liosnor
or Ggay'a Eiegy-to correspond With hib resplra
tory rhythm and titus to DO easier than nny oshe
/ for him to road. A person Ut narrower Tram
and more neryoushRbit may breathe oile'or l'la
twouty tines it, minute. and tna ths 81: ssYan
respiration better than tho oetosyllab'oH, .
! t3eott, or Tonnyson, Or Lungfellow.., A quick
breathing litlu chill will lcarn toreeito yc1sss i,
twn aud four syables, lko tho story Of til
! co.pIo whose psedilection IN iayor Of azutize
aud non-azot;zoa diet aro recorded IN oar l'..rBo
classic, and do it easy, when It would have t.
= cntcls its breath III the middle OF lines OF FIX
Hoyen syIlablcH. ..,,
No!lling IL poetry or in voc;l mus MUSIC T. wldel
pupulas that la not calculated With strict refer
1t o,lee to the respiratory function All tho curl
bnlIud poetry showa how ipstinctsely tue re
!, citars accommodated thar rhstlm to tlel
tic Wool may be taken aR an example IL
J. yotso, God says the Kins,. waacl! l.a7 cor.
pass Of some half dozen 1,o,es apd takes Of.
be ioiorroI to W. tho musical illustration.
u Tho unconscious sdapia'ion Of voluntary IL
, vnd:mp fnnt thau We hive been III tho habit q
! oonsiaoling i. One can hardly lonbt tI's
i Ypeusor breathod hablsual1y mole slowly tia
d Prior, ond that Anacreon lad quicker rospru
tion thnn Homer. Aud this difference. whic
ve conjecture from tller rl.ythnical tnssncha,