his plane throat-mirror, be
reflected outward in a straight line to the eye, which must be in the
same horizontal plane with it. This and all the other facts and
principles involved can only be understood by a careful inspection of
the accompanying figures, which it is hoped will make the subject
plain. The throat-mirror is none other than the mouth-mirror of the
dentists, and in use by them before Garcia discovered how it might be
employed to throw light on the larynx, in a double sense.

The essentials, then, for a view of the interior of the larynx are: A
source of illumination; a mirror to reflect the light reaching it from
this source into the back of the throat and larynx; and a second
mirror to reflect the light outward which is, in the first instance,
reflected from below, from the interior of the larynx. The principles
involved are few and simple, but their application to any particular
case is not easy, and is sometimes well-nigh impossible.

The throat-mirror should be placed against that curtain suspended in
the back of the mouth cavity known as the soft palate, so that it must
be pushed back out of the line of view. But many persons find such a
foreign object in the throat a sufficient cause of unpleasant
sensations so that retching may be the result. Generally there is a
tendency to raise the tongue behind in a way fatal to a view of the
mirror and the picture reflected from it. These difficulties, however,
can be overcome by a deft hand using the mirror brought to "blood
heat" by placing it in warm water or holding it over some source of
heat, as a small lamp, and directing the subject observed to breathe
freely and _through the mouth_. This latter tends to quiet that unruly
member, the tongue, and lead it to assume the flat position so
important to an unobstructed view. It is for the same reason the
author urges mouth breathing during speaking and singing. No other
tends so well to put the tongue in the correct position.

The extent to which one feels the annoyance of a small mirror held
gently in the throat depends really on the amount of attention
directed to it, and the degree of determination with which he resolves
to exercise self-control. The author has examined an entire class of
students of voice-production and found only one person who did not
succeed in at once giving him a view of the larynx. But it must be at
once said that of all persons examined by the author during his
experience as an