Adelina Patti, "Queen of song," was born to the opera stage and narrowly escaped being born on it, for her mother was singing in Norma, at Madrid, in 1843 when the first warning of the coming birth came to her.  Father and mother alike were opera singers, and of high standing in their profession.  For a great part of her career Patti was looked upon as an American prima donna, though she was born in Spain of Italian parents and adopted the Italian manner in her singing.  This proceeded from the fact that her earlier days were spent in this country, where her father, Salvatore Patti, was striving with scant success to interest Americans in Italian opera. (Notable Women in History, Abbot, 1913).