TONGUELESS SPEECH. 627 



that I will close -with this remark : Above all, it is not my iutention to 

 express different frames of mind and subjective feelings, but the next 

 time to complete the investigation of Kircher's " experimentum 

 mirabile." I do this, finally, in order to be able to follow it with 

 a general experimental investigation of spiritualism and spiritual 

 manifestations, which all those who are capable of an unprejudiced 

 deliberation may find clear and comprehensible. Till to-morrow, then. 



-~+*+~ 



TONGUELESS SPEECH. 



By W. J. YOUMANS, M. D. 



MANY animals possess the attribute of voice, but man is the only 

 one among them all capable of modulating voice into speech. 

 This he does by changing the shape of the cavities of the throat, 

 mouth, and nose, by the actions of the muscles which move the walls 

 of those parts, and by the movements of the tongue. The latter organ 

 is commonly credited with the most important share of the work ; a 

 distinction to which, as we shall soon see, it is far from being entitled. 



The sounds of the vowels, in ordinary speech, are produced by a 

 continuous expiration, the mouth being kept open, and the form of its 

 aperture changing with the utterance of each. Certain consonants 

 may also be pronounced, without interrupting the current of expired 

 air, by alterations in the shape of the throat and mouth : k, for exam- 

 ple, is the result of a little extra expiratory force ; s, z, sh, and j in 

 some cases, th, I, r, f, and v, may likewise all be produced by contin- 

 uous currents of air forced through the mouth, the shape of the cavity 

 of which is peculiarly modified by the tongue and lips. All the other 

 consonantal sounds of the English language involve the blocking of 

 the air-current in its passage through the mouth. In the case of m 

 and 71, it is prevented from issuing through the lips, and is forced 

 through the nose ; while the remaining consonants, termed explo- 

 sives, such as b and p t are produced by shutting the passage in both 

 mouth and nose, and forcing the vocal current through the obstacle 

 furnished by the nioiith, changes in the form of which give to each 

 consonant its peculiarity. 



This, in brief, is the explanation given by Huxley, of the formation 

 of articulate sounds ; and it will be seen that, while the tongue is inti- 

 mately concerned in modifying the shape of the oral cavity, only a 

 few of the sounds, such as those of cl, t, s, sh, I, and r, and sometimes 

 g, require its presence, and most of these even may be approximately 

 sounded without it. In his "Elementary Lessons in Physiology,", 

 Prof. Huxley relates the case of a man, examined by him, whose 

 tongue had been removed as completely as a skilful surgeon could 



