THE PRINCIPLES OF ACTION.
Action in elocution is that part of delivery which addresses itself to the eye. The main principles of gesture and position, the common property of students of expression since the days of the ancient Greeks, were set forth in the Thironomia,) a voluminous work of a century ago, by Dr. Gilbert Austin, of London ; but the eminent French psychologist, Francois Delsarte, was the first to show the relation 'of the whole physical activities to man's triune nature and present anything like a philosophy of actional expression. More recent writers have presented the subject in textual form and made it practical for the student. Combining the express!onal use of the hands and feet, as explained in the with the zonal correspondencies of Delsarte, we dismiss the subject by referring to the diagram.
For the history of elocution and its relation to the material used in speaking, see ORATORY.
Bibliography.— Bartlet, B. R,
English' (Boston 1916) • Burgh, J., 'The Art of Speaking' (New York 1785) ; Fulton, R. I., 'Practical Elements of Elocution' (Boston 1883) ; Jennings, H., 'Voice and its Natural Development' (New York 1911); Miser G., 'How to Develop Power and Personality' (New York 1909); 'How to Read and Declaim' (New York 1911) ; 'How to Speak in Public' (New York 1906) ' • Knowles, A., 'Oral English' (Bos ton 1916) ; Pertwee, E., 'The Art of Effective Public Speaking' (New York 1911) ; Porter, E., 'Rhetorical Reader' (New York 1835); Rush, J., The Philosophy of the Human Voice' (Philadelphia 1885); Sheridan, T., 'A Course of Lectures on Elocution' (Troy 1803); Staley, D. M., 'Psychology of the Spoken Word' (Boston 1914) ; Winans, J. A., 'Public Speaking' (New York 1916). Among the organs devoted to elocution is The Quarterly Journal of Public Speaking (official organ of Society of Teachers of Elocution, published at Menasha, Wis.).