HOW WE SNEEZE, LAUGH, STAMMER, AND SIGH. 491 



Dearest corresponding dates at which comets were seen are also ap- 

 pended : 



No comets are recorded for 1670 and 1598, and very little is known 

 of those seen in 1742 and 1529. Some of the preceding may have 

 been returns of the Pons-Brooks comet. The comets of 1812 and 

 1846, as has been shown, are both liable to great perturbation by 

 Venus. 







HOW WE SNEEZE, LAUGH, STAMMEE, AND SIGH. 



By FKEDEEIC A. FEENALD. 



THE nose is an organ in more senses than one. From its resonant 

 pipes proceed the sonorous tones which tell of blissful slumber, 

 and the convulsive snort, varying from the mere " cat-sneeze " to the 

 tremendous " Horatio," that has less definite meaning ; while the 

 Frenchman and the typical New-Englander (who is nearly as rare as 

 the aborigine in New England, by-the-way) give it an important share 

 in the production of speech. To give some physiological explanation 

 of these and other involuntary actions of the respiratory mechanism is 

 the object of the present article. 



Snoring is produced in sleep by the passage of the breath through 

 the pharynx when the tongue and soft palate are in certain positions. 

 The soft palate must have fallen back in such a manner as to nearly 

 or quite close the entrance to the nasal cavity from the throat, and the 

 tongue must also be thrown back so far as to leave only a narrow open- 

 ing between it and the soft palate. It is by the air being forced either 

 inward or outward through this opening that the noise is produced. A 

 snore results also when, with a closed mouth, the air is forced be- 

 tween the soft palate and the back wall of the pharynx into the nasal 

 cavity. With deep breathing, perhaps accompanied by a variation in 

 the position of the soft palate, a rattling noise may be heard in addi- 

 tion to the snoring, which is due to a vibration of the soft palate. 

 Hence it is evident how flinging a pillow at a snorer, or poking him in 

 the ribs, will often cause him to be silent even when the disciplinary 

 measure does not awaken him, for a change of position that lets the 

 tongue and soft palate fall a little forward secures a free passage for 

 the air. 



