630 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



with the greatest exactness we could, but found not the least appear- 

 ance of any remaining part of the tongue, nor was there any uvula. 

 .... Notwithstanding the want of so necessary an organ as the 

 tongue was generally supposed to be, to form a great part of our 

 speech, and likewise to be assisting in deglutition, to our great ad- 

 miration she performed the office of deglutition, both in swallowing 

 solids and fluids, as well as we could, and in the same manner. And 

 as to speech, she discoursed as fluently and as well as others do. . . . 

 She read to us in a book very distinctly and plain, only we observed 

 that sometimes she pronounced words ending in ath as et, end as emb, 

 ad as eib / but it required a nice and strict attention to observe even 

 this difference of sound. She sings very prettily, and pronounces her 

 words in singing as is common." ' 



The inability to speak, after loss or mutilation of the tongue, is 

 sometimes due, not so much to the lack of that organ, as to the state 

 of the sufferer's mind. Like those patients with impaired locomotive 

 powers who, believing they cannot walk, seem to lose the power of 

 will necessary to enable them to try to walk, the person with an im- 

 perfect tongue, laboring under the impression that talking is impos- 

 sible, fails to make the necessary effort, and perhaps would never 

 regain the faculty of speech unless startled into some involuntary ex- 

 clamation that convinces him of his mistake. An amusing example 

 of this accidental recovery of speech is quoted by Dr. W. Fairlie 

 Clarke from the works of Pare. A rustic who had lost a portion of 

 his tongue, and believed he could not speak, was tickled by a com- 

 panion while he was in the act of drinking, when, in spite of his men- 

 tal impression, words burst forth. "He attributed this to the use of 

 the basin that he was holding to his lips ; and, having by its means 

 regained faith in his powers of utterance, he always carried a basin 

 about with him, and applied it to his mouth when he wished to 

 speak. . . . The effect of a nervous shock," says Dr. Clarke, " is dis- 

 tinctly seen in a case recorded by the celebrated Dr. Tulp, of a young- 

 man sailing in Italy, who was taken by pirates, and carried to Turkey. 

 On account of his refusal to turn Mohammedan, his tongue was cut 

 out. He was dumb for three years, but recovered his speech suddenly 

 one stormy night, when he was terrified by a vivid flash of lightning 

 which was followed by a loud peal of thunder." 



In the cases thus far cited, speech was fully developed before loss 

 or mutilation of the tongue occurred, and the other organs, having 

 become perfectly educated, were subsequently able to assume and 

 carry on the function. What is more remarkable still, not only can 

 the tongue be spared after the power of speech has been perfected, 

 but it appears to be quite unnecessary to the development of the 

 faculty. This is shown by a case described by M. de Jussieu, the 

 more interesting parts of whose narrative are given by Clarke, in his 



1 Quoted from W. Fairlie Clarke, " On the Diseases of the Tongue." 



