[Nov. 20, EXTRACTS FROM A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF MADAME SEILER, BY HARRIET HARE MCCLELLAN. "In passing from the highest tones of the falsetto register, still higher to the head tones, she was the first to observe a change in the motions of the organ of singing, which she discovered to be due to a sudden closing together of the vocal ligaments to their middle, with their fine edges one over the other, leaving free only a third part of the whole glottis immediately under the epiglottis, to the front wall of the larynx.' The foremost part of the glottis formed an oval orifice which with each higher tone seemed to contract more and more, and so became smaller and rounder. It was objected to this result of her observation that such a contraction of the glottis was only possible by means of cartilages and muscles,' but that such cartilages and muscles as could render an action of that kind possible were not known. Madame Seiler fully admitted the soundness of this objection, while she was, after repeated trials, more and more convinced of the correctness of her own observation; so she began anew to study the anatomy of the larynx in dissected subjects and was rewarded by finding within the membranes of the vocal ligaments certain fibres of muscle which she called the aryteno-thyroid interna, and which have also been found by other observers. They consist of muscular fibres, sometimes finer, sometimes thicker, and are often described in recent works on laryngoscopy as continuations or parts of one of the principal muscles of the larynx, but her chief discovery was of certain small cuniform cartilages within the membranes of the vocal ligaments, and reaching from their junction with the arytenoid cartilages to the middle of the ligaments. She states that she found these always in the female larynx, and that they undeniably work the shutting part of the glottis, but as they are only now and then fully formed in the male larynx, it follows plainly that only a few male voices are capable of producing the head tones. She adds that observation in the microscope revealed in those larynxes in which the cuniform cartilages were wanting, parts of a cartilaginous mass or the rudiments of a cartilage in the place indicated, and accounts for the cartilages not having been discovered earlier, by the fact that the male larynx was most commonly used by anatomists for investigation, as its muscles are more powerful and its cartilages firmer than in the female larynx. "Thus she proved her point, and better still she succeeded, by patient effort and persevering practice, of which she was unsparing now that she had discovered the cause of her inability to sing [the attempt to carry upward the throat tones beyond their proper limit] in once more recovering her voice. Certainly if proof were demanded of the truth of her theory, or the practical value of her method, it need be sought no further than in the fact of her having succeeded so completely in the restoration of her own voice, a task recognized by all singing teachers as infinitely more difficult than the original training of an untried organ. At last she who understood the art of singing could sing again-and a glad song she sang! "She has spoken for herself as to this portion of her experience and it seems most appropriate to quote her own words: "As I had had for many years the best teaching, both German and Italian, in the art of singing, and had often sung with favor in concerts, I was led to believe myself qualified to become a teacher of this art, but I had hardly undertaken the office before I felt that while I was able to teach my pupils to execute pieces of music with tolerable accuracy and with the appropriate expression, I was wanting in the knowledge of any sure starting point, any sound principle from which to proceed in the special culture of any individual voice. In order to obtain the knowledge which thus appeared to be requisite in a teacher of vocal music, I examined the best schools of singing, and when I learned nothing from them that I did not already know, I sought the most celebrated teachers of singing, to learn what was wanting; but what one teacher announced to me as a rule was usually rejected by another. Every teacher had his own peculiar system of instruction. No one could give me any definite reason therefor, and the best assured me that so exact a method as I sought I did not exist, and that every teacher must find his own way through his own experience. In such a state of darkness and uncertainty to undertake to instruct others appeared to me a manifest wrong, for in no branch of instruction can the ignorance of the teacher do greater injury than in the teaching of vocal music. This I unhappily learned from my own personal experience when under the tuition of a most eminent teacher I entirely lost my voice, whereby the embarrassment I was under, so far from being diminished, was only increased. After this misfortune, I studied under Frederick Wiek, in Dresden (the father and instructor of Clara Schumann), in order to become a teacher on the piano, but while I thus devoted myself to this branch of teaching exclusively, it became from that time the aim and the effort of my life to obtain such a knowledge of the human voice as is indispensable to a natural and healthy development of its beautiful powers. "I availed myself of every opportunity to hear Jenny Lind, who was then dwelling in Dresden, and to learn all that I could from her. I likewise hoped from a protracted abode in Italy, the land of song, to obtain the fulfillment of my wishes, but beyond certain practical advantages, I gathered there no sure or radical knowledge. "In the French method of instruction, now so popular (1868), I found the same superficiality and uncertainty that existed every where else. But the more deeply I was impressed with this state of things, and the more fully I became aware of the injurious and trying consequences of the method of teaching followed at the present day, the more earnestly was I impelled to press onward in search of light and clearness in this dim domain. "Convinced that only by the way of scientific investigation the desired end could be reached, I sought the counsel of Prof. Helmholtz, in Heidelberg. This distinguished man was then engaged in a scientific inquiry into the natural laws lying at the basis of musical sounds. Prof. Helmholtz permitted me to take part in his investigations, and at his kind suggestion I attempted by myself, by means of the laryngoscope, to observe the physiological processes that go on in the larynx during the production of different tones. My special thanks are due to him that now, with a more thorough knowledge of the human voice, I can give instruction in singing without the fear of doing any injury.'” Mr. Rosengarten presented to the Society the laryngoscope used by Mrs. Seiler, which was stated to be the first ever used in America. At the conclusion of the memoir, the President invited those present to a light collation that had been prepared. And the Society was adjourned by the President. Stated Meeting, December 4, 1891. Present, 11 members. Mr. RICHARD VAUX in the Chair. Correspondence was submitted as follows: A letter of acceptance of membership from Prof. George Forbes, London, November 1, 1891. A letter from the Coast and Geodetic Survey Office, Washington, D. C., asking for exchanges, which request was granted. The following were ordered to be placed on the Proceedings Exchange List: Massachusetts Agricultural College, Amherst, Mass.; Agricultural Experiment Station, New Haven, Conn.; Agricultural Experiment Station, Lincoln, Neb.; Agricultural Experiment Station, College Park, Md.; Agricultural Experiment Station, Raleigh, N. C.; Agricultural Experiment Station, Auburn, Ala.; Agricultural Experiment Station, Starkville, Miss.; Agricultural Experiment Station, Fayetteville, Ark.; Agricultural Experiment Station, Laramie, Wyo.; Agricultural Experiment Station, Providence, R. I.; Agricultural Experiment Station, Tucson, Ariz.; Agricultural Experiment Sta 1891.] tion, Experiment, Ga.; Agricultural Experiment Station, Ames, Iowa; Agricultural Experiment Station, Fort Collins, Colo.; Agricultural Experiment Station, Auburn, Ala.; Agricultural Experiment Station, Brockings, S. Dak.; Agricul tural Experiment Station, Corvallis, Oreg.; Botanische Verein, Provinz Brandenburg, Berlin, Prussia; Bowdoin College Library, Brunswick, Me.; Library of the University of Lyons, France; Museo Oaxaqueño, Oaxaca, Mexico; American Mu seum Natural History, New York City, N. Y.; New Jersey Natural History Society, Trenton, N. J. A circular from the American Chemical Society, New York, announcing a meeting to be held in New York city on December 29 and 30, 1891. Letters of envoy were received from the Geological Survey of India, Calcutta; Académie des Sciences, Amsterdam; Observatorium der K. K. Nautischen Akademie, Triest; Society of Natural Sciences, Buffalo; Secretary of State, Washington, D. C. Letters of acknowledgment were received from the Comité Géologique de la Russie, Imperial Russian Geographical Society, St. Petersburg (135); Prof. A. E. Nordenskiold, Stockholm (134, 135); R. Danish Geographical Society, Copenhagen (135); Musée Royale d'Histoire Naturelle de Belgique, Bruxelles (129-134); Académie R. des Sciences, Amsterdam (131– 134 and Transactions, xvi, 3); K. K. Militär-Geographische Institut, Wien (131-134); K. K. Sternwarte (135); K. K. Astron. Meteorolog. Observatorium, Triest (131-133, 135); Naturforschende Gesellschaft des Osterlandes, Allenburg (135); Prof. F. Reuleaux, Berlin (134); Naturwissenschaftliche Verein, Bremen (135); K. Sächsisches Meteorologisches Institut, Chemnitz (135); Verein für Erdkunde, Dresden (135); Naturforschende Gesellschaft, Freiburg i. B. (135); Naturhistorische Gesellschaft, Hanover (135); Verein für Thüringische Geschichte und Altertumskunde, Jena (135); Dr. Julius Platzmann, Leipzig (135); R. Accademia di Scienze Lettere ed Arti, Modena (135); R. Comitato Geologico d'Italia, Prof. PROC. AMER. PHILOS. soc. XXIX. 136. v. PRINTED JAN. 6, 1892. Guiseppe Sergi, Rome (135); Prof. Gaston Maspero, Paris (135); Société des Sciences Naturelles et Archæologiques de la Creuse, Guéret, France (134); Prof. E. Mascart, Bureau Central Météorologique de France (135); Sir Henry W. Acland, Oxford, Eng. (135); Prof. J. P. Postgate, Cambridge, Eng. (135); Department of Science and Art, Royal Astronomical Society (135), Mr. Charles Leland, London (134, 135); Royal Dublin Society (135); Royal Society of Edinburgh, Royal Observatory, Mr. James Geikie, Edinburgh (135); Vermont Historical Society, Montpelier (134); Prof. Elihu Thomson, Swampscott, Mass. (135); Prof. James Hall, Albany, N. Y. (134); Rochester Academy of Science (135); Mr. Henry Carey Baird, Philadelphia (131-135); Wyoming Historical and Geological Society, Wilkes-Barré (135); California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco (131-135). Accessions to the Library were announced from the Naturforscher Verein, Riga, Russia; K. K. Sternwarte, Prag; Osservatorio Marittimo, Trieste; Bayerische Botanische Gesellschaft, München; Société Neuchateloise de Géographie, Neuchatel; Direzione Générale della Statistica, Prof. Guiseppe Sergi, Rome; Prof. Paul Topinard, Paris; R. Academia de la Historia, Madrid; Philosophical Society, Cambridge, Eng.; Geological Society, Mr. Henry Wilde, London; Hon. George E. Foster, Halifax, N. S.; American Oriental Society, New Haven; Wesleyan University, Middletown, Conn.; Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences; College of Pharmacy, Philadelphia; U. S. Bureau of Education, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C.; Historical Society, Mr. C. S. Wake, Chicago; California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco; Geological Survey of Arkansas, Little Rock; Observatorio Astronomico Nacional de Tacubaya, Mexico. A photograph for the Society's Album was received from Mr. Samuel Wagner. The decease of the following members was announced: Dr. D. Humphreys Storer, Boston, September 10, 1891, æt. 87. |