ight might be
thrown on the questions at issue.

Merely to assume that a method of treating the registers which has
given, apparently, good practical results in the hands of one teacher
is sound, and rests on a scientific basis, is unwarranted. It may be
simply a little better or a little worse than some other. How is the
student to distinguish, in his choice, between Mr. A and Mr. B, in the
case of two successful teachers, both of whom recognize registers? A
physiologist may be sound as far as he goes, yet lack that practical
knowledge of the voice which the vocal teacher properly considers
requisite in determining how a pupil shall use the registers. Among
those who are most dogmatic on this and other questions there is often
a plentiful lack of knowledge of the vocal organs; and some clever
laryngologists must have learned, when they were carried into the
discussion of this subject, that some knowledge of music and singing
is absolutely indispensable, and that enough cannot be picked up, even
by an able man, in a few minutes devoted to interrogating singers,
especially when these vocalists have been trained by widely different
methods, and have, as is too often the case, given but little real
_thought_ to the scientific, or, indeed, any other side of their art.

We find "break" confounded with "register," and the meaning attached
to the latter, at best, one-sided or inadequate in some respects. The
truth is, such a subject cannot be settled by the physiologist, even
when a laryngologist, as such; nor can the solution to a scientific
question of this kind be given by a singer, as a singer. Such a
problem can only be settled, as we have throughout insisted, by those
possessing many qualifications, and even when the investigator unites
in himself every intellectual qualification, something will depend on
his temperament and spirit. An atmosphere of controversy is not
favorable to scientific investigation, and among the dangers that ever
lie in the path of the teacher are pride and prejudice. The
assumption that one is prepared to teach is too often associated with
views and feelings that prevent the guide from remaining himself a
student and being ready to learn even from the very beginner, as he
must if he have the true spirit. Unfortunately, several of the most
highly qualified writers on this subject have formulated their views
under conditions unfavorable to the attainment of the whole truth.

It is to be borne i