Opera seasons are, of course, running at Her Majesty's Theatre and the Royal Italian Opera, Covent Garden. Leaving these and other musical matters of 1848 for the moment, let us reproduce some of the advertisements from the papers of that July, for we shall obtain in this way the best insight into the places of amusement of that time.

THEATRE ROYAL, DRURY LANE.

Benefit of Mr Macready.

His last appearance previous to his departure for America.

THEATRE ROYAL, HAYMARKET.

Mr B. Webster (Sole Lessee).

"The Wife's Secret."

ROYAL LYCEUM THEATRE.

Under the Management of Mme. VESTRIS.

"The Captain of the Watch," after which "The Beggar's Opera," to conclude with "Anything for a Change."

THEATRE ROYAL, SADLER'S WELLS.

Under the Direction of Miss Rainforth.

THEATRE ROYAL, ADELPHI.

Under the Management of Mme. Celeste.

"The Harvest Home," after which "Going to the Derby," to conclude with "The Married Bachelor."

THEATRE ROYAL, MARYLEBONE.

Under the Management of Mrs Warner.

After which "The Spoiled Child."

ROYAL SURREY THEATRE.

Shakspere's original version of "The Life and Death of King Richard Third," after which "A Grand Ballet," to conclude with Boz's "Oliver Twist."

ROYAL OLYMPIC THEATRE.

Mr H. Spicer's new play, "The Lords of Ellingham," to conclude with the Drama, "The Miller and His Men."

ST JAMES'S THEATRE.

(French Plays.)

"L'Almanach des 25,000 Addresses," concluding with "L'Enfant de Quelqu'un," with M. Grassot, M. Sainville, and M. Ravel.

To commence at 7.30.

PRINCESS'S THEATRE.

"La Vivandière," to conclude with the "Spirit of Gold," a Ballet, and other entertainments.

ROYAL GRECIAN SALOON.

An entirely new opera in three acts by Auber, "Le Chevalier d'Essone," with a Farce and a Divertissement.

ASTLEY'S ROYAL AMPHITHEATRE.

An entirely new grand spectacle, entitled "Marmion; or the Battle of Flodden," with other entertainments in the Ring.

THE DIORAMA, REGENT'S PARK.

(New Exhibition.)

"Eruption of Mount Ætna."

COAL-HOLE TAVERN, STRAND.

(Opposite Exeter Hall.)

Chair taken by John Rhodes every Evening.

Glees, Duets, Solos, Catches, Comic Songs, &c., executed by the most numerous company of vocalists in the Metropolis, under the direction of Mr Warren, R.A.

MADAME WARTON'S WALHALLA.

(Leicester Square.)

"Tableaux Vivants."

CREMORNE GARDENS.

Grand Aquatic Tournament.

Magnificent Water Pageant.

The following paragraph appeared on July 29, and from it we get an insight into the aftermath which the months of revolutionary disturbance had bequeathed to the city Garcia had left only four weeks before.

Let us now look at the musical events which were taking place during the first weeks after Manuel Garcia's arrival in London.

We find many interesting announcements in the concert world; and it is strange to note that practically none of the halls in which they were given survive at the present day. On June 23 M. Chopin gives his matinée; while the Philharmonic Society informs the "subscribers and the public" that their eighth concert will take place at the Hanover Square Rooms, on June 26, with the following programme:—

On the same day there takes place in the Great Concert Room of Her Majesty's Theatre, Mr Benedict's Grand Annual Morning Concert, with the following artists:—

Three days later Monsieur Berlioz gives a recital at the Hanover Square Rooms.

Soon after this Thalberg gives a recital; while "John Parry, the laughter-provoking and ingenious," holds his concert in the Hanover Square Rooms. "His new 'whimsy' (for he is the Hood of musicians in his amount of whim, and whim cannot exist without genius) is 'The Rehearsal of an Operetta.'"

There is also a notice of Exeter Hall: "Mr Hullah's choralists celebrated the anniversary of laying the first stone of their new music hall with the best miscellaneous English concert that one recollects.... Mr Sims Reeves, who seems wisely taking the tide at the flood, and by increased care justifying his increasing success, was an attraction, singing among other music Purcell's 'Come if you dare,' with spirit enough to 'rouse a shire.'"

Then there is a season of Promenade Concerts at the Royal Adelaide Gallery, Strand, not to mention "M. Jullien and his unrivalled band" at the Royal Surrey Gardens.

'Musical Gossip' of July 1848 contains some items, the first of which cannot fail to bring an ironical smile to the face of modern composers.

"We have year after year adverted to the unsatisfactory state of the law of musical copyright in this country."

"A correspondent at Florence writes: 'Old Rossini is here enjoying his well-earned otium cum dignitate.'"

Now let us turn to operatic matters in that far-off season of 1848.

Mr Delafield had undertaken to finance the Covent Garden venture, for which a bevy of great names had been secured. As in the preceding season Garcia's pupil, Jenny Lind, had been the principal star at Her Majesty's, so in this year another pupil, his sister, Pauline Viardot, was the star at the rival establishment. In addition to her there were Alboni, Persiani, Grisi, Mario, Ronconi, Marini, and Castellani. Unhappily, things did not run as smoothly as might have been wished: Michael Costa and Delafield were at loggerheads, and in July, soon after Garcia arrived from Paris, a financial crisis occurred which was only averted by the assistance of Gye.

As to the rival operatic season at Her Majesty's Theatre, it will be sufficient if we quote a rather typical critique of one of the representations:—

"'Poor Don Pasquale,' Donizetti's prettiest musical comedy (!), 'produced to fill an off-night,' was an exclamation there was no escaping from on Tuesday evening. Why was it produced at all? To us the performance was an execution in the Tyburn acceptation of the word.

We find the first mention of Señor Garcia's arrival made in the 'Musical World' of July 1, in these words:—

"Manuel Garcia, the celebrated professor of singing in the Conservatoire of Paris, has arrived in London. He is brother to Malibran and Pauline Garcia, and was teacher of Jenny Lind."

On July 15 the 'Athenæum' gives further details: "We are informed that Monsieur Garcia meditates settling here as professor of singing."

With the publication of this news the maestro was besieged with applications from those who were desirous of becoming pupils. He was at once regarded as the foremost professor in the capital, and his house in George Street, Hanover Square, not only saw numbers of students anxious to enter the profession, but was equally sought out by the aristocracy and wealthy classes of society, as had been the case in Paris.

On November 10, 1848, he was appointed a member of the professional staff at the Royal Academy of Music.

The institution had only been founded twenty-five years previously, when Garcia was eighteen, receiving its charter of incorporation seven years later.

The principal of the Academy at that time was Cipriani Potter, and we find some strangely bygone names upon the staff of professors. Sir Henry Bishop, Mons. Sainton, Moscheles, Goss, George Macfarren, Signor Crivelli, Sir George Smart, Mme. Dulcken, J. B. Cramer, Julius Benedict, Lindley, Chatterton, J. Thomas (the harpist), Signor Puzzi, and as an assistant professor of the pianoforte, Walter Macfarren. These were some of the colleagues with whom Garcia found himself associated when he commenced his work at the Academy.

The close of 1852 saw his first appearance on the operatic stage at Mannheim; while between the years 1857 and 1859 he was engaged at the Opéra Comique in Paris, making especial success as the Seneschal in "Jean de Paris." In 1862 he settled in Hamburg as director of the Philharmonic Concerts there and of the "Sing-akademie," a position which he held till the end of the 'Sixties. During this period he took many concert tours with Mme. Schumann, Brahms, and Joseph. In 1870 he was back in England, and stayed till the close of 1871, singing once more at the Philharmonic, Crystal Palace, and other leading concerts. Three years after this he went to live in Berlin, to take direction of the vocal society founded by Stern. Thence he migrated to Frankfort as professor of the Conservatorium, presided over at the time by Raff; and it was in Frankfort that he spent the rest of his days.

Among the most promising of Garcia's earliest pupils at the Royal Academy was Kate Crichton, who came to study under him at the commencement of 1849—the year in which Sims Reeves made his operatic début and music-lovers mourned the death of Chopin.

Miss Crichton soon showed that the maestro had not left behind him in Paris his cunning in the training of voices. As the time approached at which the idea of her début was taking shape, the advice of Garcia upon the point was sought by her father. The letter in which was embodied his reply may be quoted as showing the deep interest and sound advice which was ever displayed in his relations with his pupils:—

At last her teacher thought her ready to make the trial. An engagement was secured under the management of Alfred Bunn, and on January 23, 1852, Kate Crichton made her début on the opening night of the Drury Lane season in "Robert le Diable." As to her success we may quote 'The Times':—

"As Princess Isabelle, Miss Crichton (in whose person we recognised Miss Browne, the most promising pupil of the vocal art in the Royal Academy of Music) made her first appearance on any stage. She was successful to a degree which, since the début of Mr Sims Reeves in 1849, has had no parallel on the English stage."

Unhappily Miss Crichton's career, so brightly begun, was brought to a sudden close by her catching a malignant fever at Milan, resulting in the loss of her vocal powers. Had it not been for this, there is no doubt that she, too, would have been among that wonderful band of pupils who won fame in the operatic world for their maestro and themselves.

1850 was a year interesting to musicians from the fact that Frederick Gye, the new manager of Covent Garden, produced Halévy's opera, "La Juive," while the great German basso, Herr Formes, made his English début; but the year was memorable for England at large, from the fact that it saw the death of two of her best-known men—Robert Peel and Wordsworth.

With the following year—in which Turner passed away—the subject of this memoir was included for the first time in the census of the United Kingdom. It affords a curious comparison with the numbers of the present day, when we note that the Return, taken a month before the opening of the Great Exhibition, gave the population as 27,637,761, the last figure of which shows the advent of the maestro with unmistakable clearness.

1852 again brought Garcia's name before the English public as it had in 1848. Just as in that year three rival opera companies in London had fought for the possession of his pupil Jenny Lind, so now the two managers—Gye and Lumley—strove for the possession of another of his pupils, Johanna Wagner, whose name was the only one rivalling that of the Swedish Nightingale in its magnetic hold upon the musical world.

The January of the following year, 1853, brought another pupil, Bessie Palmer, the contralto. She tells the story of her difficulties in becoming his pupil in her book of 'Musical Recollections':—

"After some months I found my voice becoming thin and scratchy and my throat in a constant state of irritation. At last, in January of 1853, I wrote to M. Cazalet, the superintendent, requesting that I should be placed in Signor Garcia's class, as Signor Crivelli had quite altered the tone and quality of my voice, and had made a mistake. M. Cazalet answered that the committee refused to permit me to go into Signor Garcia's class, and unless Signor Crivelli would kindly take me back as his pupil I could not return to the Academy. Of course I wrote at once and said I would not rejoin Crivelli's class, and certainly would not return at all.

With this episode we are brought to the year which medical men will consider the most important one in Manuel Garcia's life, as it was in 1854 that he perfected his great discovery.

IT was in 1854 (the year which saw the ultimatum of England and France presented to St Petersburg, the prelude to the Crimean War) that the important invention was made—or, as the maestro with characteristic modesty described it, "the idea dawned on him"—of the laryngoscope.

As to its lasting value to the world at large, it will be sufficient to point out that since that year, according to reliable estimates, 3 per cent of the entire human race have been benefited by the invention.

With regard to the history of the discovery, an account of the earlier attempts which had been made has been set down in the number of the 'British Medical Journal' published at the time of the Garcia Centenary.

Before proceeding further, it may be well to warn the reader that the next few pages are bound to deal with a certain amount of technical detail which it is impossible to avoid in relating this portion of the maestro's career.

In 1734 Levret, whose name is still held in honour among obstetricians, described a speculum, consisting of a plate of polished metal, which "reflected the luminous rays in the direction of the tumour," and received the image of the tumour on its reflecting surface. Levret seems to have used the mirror, not as a means of diagnosis, but as a guide in the application of ligatures to tumours in the throat. At any rate, his invention bore no fruit.

Half a century later Bozzini, of Frankfort-on-the-Main, devoted much attention to devising means of illuminating the main canals of the human body. In 1807 he published a description of an apparatus by which the throat and the posterior nares could be examined by reflected light. The official heads of the profession laughed away his invention, which, though cumbrous, deserved a better fate.

In 1825 Cagniard de Latour introduced a little mirror into the back of the throat, hoping with the aid of the sun's rays and a second mirror to be able to see the epiglottis, and even the glottis, but failed. In 1827 another unsuccessful attempt was made by Senn of Geneva; and two years later Benjamin Guy Babington exhibited at the Hunterian Society of London an instrument very like the laryngoscope now in use: he employed it in many cases, but for some reason seems to have left no record of them.

In 1838 Baumès of Lyons showed a mirror with which he said the larynx could be examined.

In 1844 Warden of Edinburgh reported two cases in which he said he had been able to make "satisfactory ocular inspection of diseases affecting the glottis," by using two prisms of flint glass. In the same year Avery of London devised a laryngoscope in which a laryngeal mirror was combined with a lamp and reflector: the apparatus embodied the essential features of the modern laryngoscope, but its clumsiness made its practical application difficult, and in many cases impossible.

Up to 1850, then, the different attempts had met with failure in varying degrees. When Garcia attacked the problem he was quite ignorant of the fact that others had been at work, and his reason for wishing to overcome the difficulty and catch a glimpse of the glottis was perfectly different from theirs. His was one connected entirely with his work as a teacher of singing. Ever since he had given attention to the scientific aspects of voice-emission, he had longed to see a healthy glottis in the very act of singing. The idea of employing mirrors for the purpose of studying the interior of the larynx came to him in 1854. The following is the story of the discovery as he related it one day:—

One day in the September of 1854, when on a visit to Paris, he was standing in the Palais Royal. Suddenly there came to him an idea. "Why should I not try to see it?" How must this be done? Why, obviously by some means of reflection. Then, like a flash, he seemed to see the two mirrors of the laryngoscope in their respective positions as though actually before his eyes. He went straight to Charrière, the surgical instrument maker, asked whether they happened to possess a small mirror with a long handle, and was at once supplied with a dentist's mirror, which had been one of the failures of the London Exhibition of 1851. He bought it for six francs.

Six months later, on March 22, 1855, his paper, "Physiological Observations on the Human Voice," was submitted to the Royal Society of London. In it was set down the scientific thesis of his discovery in language which would have done credit to expert anatomists and physiologists.

On May 24 this was read before the Society by Professor Sharpey at a meeting held under the presidency of Lord Wrottesley, and was duly published in the 'Proceedings of the Royal Society,' vol. vii.

Investigation shows that primarily it is an account of the oral cavity and of the physiology of the voice, exemplified by the mechanical contrivance of the author's own thoughtful invention, actually used in an autoscopic manner with the idea of elucidating the action of the larynx during vocal effort.

As to the subsequent use of the laryngoscope in another sphere of investigation, and the far-reaching results which are due to it, it was nearly two years before the possibility of making practical use was seen. The medical profession was slow to realise what an invaluable instrument of observation the musician had provided, and at first it was treated by superior persons as nothing more than a physiological toy; in fact, as so often happens when a discovery is made by some one not belonging to the craft, Garcia's communication was originally received by the doctors with indifference, if not with incredulity.

It might have been expected that the uses to which the instrument could be put for diseases of the throat would forthwith have been perceived, and its value as a means of diagnosis appreciated. Yet, but for an accident, the paper might have lain buried in the dusty tomb of the 'Proceedings' of the Royal Society.

Türck continued his experiments for a time; and it was in this year, 1857, that the instrument was actually used for the first time for diagnostic purposes. He seems, however, to have given up his experiments later, owing to the want of sunlight in the winter.

Soon after this, Professor J. N. Czermak of Buda-Pesth, another great physiologist, visited Vienna, and was shown the instrument, in which he was keenly interested. With it he made the observations which he published. This fact gave rise to one of those bitter controversies as to priority, of which the history of science offers so many examples.

The famous dispute had the immediate effect of directing the attention of the whole world to the laryngoscope. As to the rights of the matter, it would appear that while there is no doubt that Czermak owed his knowledge of the method to Türck and indirectly to Garcia, he made the important modification of substituting artificial illumination for the uncertain light of the sun.

As to the demonstrations with the instrument, many amusing incidents have taken place. Two in particular I remember hearing Garcia relate.

His pupil Charles Battaille, to whom reference has been already made in an earlier chapter, was most enthusiastic over it, and, having been a medical student at one time, considered himself well qualified to demonstrate its virtues. Hearing that the Turkish Ambassador in Paris was going to give a dinner to the most prominent French inventors of that time, he obtained permission to show off the uses of the new exhibit during the evening. After pointing out that it would revolutionise the scientific study of the throat, he proceeded to force the instrument down the gullet of an unfortunate Court official who had barely finished dinner. The result was disastrous.

The other story was a comical experience of a well-known specialist.

Like all very sensitive areas of the human body, the organ of the voice is sometimes invaded by special symptoms, notably in hysterical patients.

In the present state of our knowledge of such matters, it is rather startling to remember that two and a half centuries ago the famous physician of Norwich, Sir Thomas Brown, thought it a part of his duty, as an advanced teacher of his contemporaries, to devote a chapter of one of his books to stating and proving that food and drink did not descend into the body by two separate tubes. It appears that at that date the majority of the British public actually believed that, as Nature had placed two pipes in the neck, solids were transmitted by one and fluids by the other during the ordinary act of swallowing.

Though Czermak took up the laryngoscope and added to its general feasibility by the introduction of artificial light, it still had many obstacles to overcome, but in this it only shared the common fate of all innovations. A number of the men who bore the heat of the day in the early time of storm and stress are still alive, and must rejoice in the fulness of recognition which their speciality has gained.

Intralaryngeal medication and surgery soon followed the discovery of the diagnostic properties, and its principles were extended to the elucidation and treatment of diseases of the parts situated between the nose and throat.

"Had Garcia's work ended when he was forty, we should still not improbably be powerless to deal with functional aphonia, with laryngeal growths, with tuberculosis of the larynx, and with many conditions in the upper air-passages which can now be treated satisfactorily, because they can be seen. What is more important, we should be without a means of diagnosis which has proved invaluable in the detection of unsuspected disease of the brain and in the elucidation of obscure mediastinal affections. Abductor paralysis of a vocal cord is often the only appreciable symptom in the early stage of tabes, and it may give the key to the situation of a growth in the fourth ventricle, the medulla, or the cerebellum. Faint appearances, discoverable only by laryngosocopy, may furnish the first indication of pulmonary tuberculosis before any physical signs are present. The state of the larynx, in fact, is often a danger-signal to those who can read its meaning. The laryngoscope may also reveal the presence of an aortic aneurism or a mediastinal tumour. Its value in medicine is greater than that of the ophthalmoscope, because its application is wider, and the indications which it supplies are often more definite."

As to the development of the instrument, Manuel Garcia, the discoverer of the hidden land, attained his results by the most simple means. He merely placed the little dentist's mirror (previously heated) with a long handle against the uvula, holding it at an angle of 135 degrees, and then, by means of an ordinary hand-mirror, flashed a ray of sunlight upon its surface. Next Czermak and Türck took the matter up, and made certain improvements in the instrument, substituting artificial light so as to render it useful independently of the sun. The laryngoscope was illumined by a concave mirror fastened to the forehead of the observer. This mirror received the rays of a lamp situated close to the head of the subject, and focussed their concentrated light on to the laryngoscope. The position to be given to the patient was definitely fixed by these workers.

With the advent of electric light fresh perfections were introduced; while in 1896 Kirstein, of Berlin, discovered a novel method of laryngeal investigation which led to the establishment by Killian, in 1902, of a new method of "bronchoscopy," which permits of the direct exploration of the "bronchiæ."

But all these discoveries are only a continuation of that invention which assures to Garcia a glorious name in the history of medicine.

1841 became a memorable date in the earlier period of Manuel Garcia's career as a teacher, as bringing Jenny Lind to his studio in Paris. In the same way, 1857 stood out in the later portion, as bringing to him the first pupil in London who was to achieve a world-wide reputation, Sir Charles Santley. In making this statement I leave out of account Julius Stockhausen, since his lessons had been commenced in Paris.

The circumstances which brought about the advent of Santley are related in his 'Reminiscences':—

The reason the baritone only learned some years after. Miss—— had made a small reputation already, which she declined jeopardising by singing duets with a young man fresh from Italy.