The criterion of correct inspiration is, as I have said before, an increase of size of the abdomen and of the lower part of the chest. Whoever draws in the abdomen and raises the upper part of the chest in the act of filling his lungs does wrong. Meanwhile, in continuing the breathing exercises, the time of holding the breath may be increased at the rate of two seconds per week; so that the student who, during the first fortnight, limited himself to four seconds will, at the end of six weeks, hold his breath during twelve seconds. I have, in some instances, with students of mine, gone as far as twenty seconds; but I desire very earnestly to warn my readers to be cautious and not to go to extremes. Nothing will be gained, but infinite harm may ensue by over-doing these lung gymnastics, and persons at all inclined to bleeding from the lungs should not undertake the exercises at all, except with the sanction of their medical adviser, who will limit the practice according to circumstances. The second breathing exercise is the exact opposite of the first, and consists in taking a rapid _in_spiration and making the _ex_piration slow, even, uninterrupted and without jerking or trembling. My musical readers will at once see the importance of this exercise for the purpose of singing sustained tones and florid passages; but it would be quite useless to attempt it before No. 1 has been sufficiently practised. The third and last breathing exercise consists in taking the _in_spiration as in No. 1, and the _ex_piration as in No. 2. After the two preceding ones have been fully mastered this last is easy enough; and the student who has persevered so far will now have overcome one of the greatest difficulties of a vocalist, namely, the proper management of the breath, an accomplishment which seems to become more and more rare in our go-ahead times of electricity. I feel that my description of these breathing exercises is far from complete, and what is worse, that it may lead to misunderstandings, the results of which will hereafter be laid to my charge. But writing, however lucid and careful, can never take the place of _viva voce_ instruction; and I wish it to be distinctly understood that the explanations here given are not by any means intended to supersede the aid of a competent and painstaking teacher.