that of the lungs, or because intestinal
troubles bring on constipation or diarrhoea.

Very nutritive and very digestible food should be chosen for a singer,
and a mixed alimentation should be employed. Among drinks preference
should be given to wine and beer. Alcoholic liquors, Dr. Poyet thinks,
should be absolutely forbidden. However, he advises a singer in the
course of a fatiguing performance sometimes to moisten the throat with,
and even to take a few mouthfuls of, cold water, to which has been added
a little old cognac or "vin de coca"; but never, on any account, to take
an iced drink just after singing.

Everybody who sings ought first to observe in the strictest manner
the rules of general hygiene. Thanks to this hygiene it is possible
completely to develop all the faculties of the larynx and to regulate
the voice in such manner as to assure its regular operation. General
hygiene, moreover, will permit the singer to preserve himself from the
external influences which may bring about aphony or dysphony, that is,
loss of voice or difficulty of voice.

A person who sings should always assume a natural attitude, since this
aids the play of the respiratory organs. This play should be mixed, that
is to say, costal and diaphragmatic. The respiration should be well
regulated. The singer ought never to take too sudden inspirations, for
he would thus run the risk of rapidly irritating the vocal cords. When
it is a question of vocal exercises, one always should proceed from the
simple to the complex, taking care not to prolong the exercises at the
beginning. That is, the first singing-exercises should not be too
prolonged. Moreover, in these first exercises the singer should never
attempt to attain the extreme notes of his vocal range. The exercises
should lie in the middle register.

Keen impressions, whether of joy or pain, are, in Dr. Poyet's opinion,
bad for the voice. Great fear may cause a passing but instantaneous loss
of voice. "Vox faucibus haesit." The emotion of singing in public, as
everyone knows, prevents many artists from showing their full capacity.
Only custom, and sometimes reasoning, can free them from "stage-fright."

People who sing, and who desire to preserve the integrity of their
voice, should abstain from smoking. Because some singers--Faure, in
particular--have had a brilliant career despite the inveterate use of
tobacco, there is no reason that this example should be followed.
Tobacco irrita