386 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



thither to summon individuals who, in their folly, take no note of the 

 change of temperature. Is it not plain that these birds know how to 

 say, " It is time to he gone ? " 



But in all probability the language of animals gives expression 

 only to very simple impressions and ideas. But, inasmuch as we do 

 not understand it, we cannot define either its extent or its true char- 

 acter. Some persons have the power of imitating the calls and songs 

 of birds ; and birds, in turn, repeat human language, without, how- 

 ever, understanding its sense ; it is only very rarely that we can 

 recognize in the phrase uttered by the inhabitant of a cage the ex- 

 pression of a desire. Man and dog, close friends though they are, 

 understand one another only by means of a sort of pantomime. 

 Eventually the dog understands some of the words spoken by his 

 master, and the man. understands some of the vocal expressions of his 

 trusty friend ; and this is the highest result of long association. It 

 appears as though, by a supreme will, an insurmountable obstacle had 

 been opposed to all close communication between*man and animals. 



Apparently those animals whose organization comes nearest to 

 that of man lack both the faculty of producing an ensemble of articu- 

 late sounds and the degree of intelligence requisite for attaching to 

 words a strictly determinate meaning. No monkey has ever learned 

 to talk. In our own day the comparative study of specialties of or- 

 ganization and of the life-conditions of living beings has thrown light 

 upon the subject of articulate speech. We may confidently affirm that' 

 a creature possessing an instrument or an organ subject to the control 

 of its will comes into the world possessed of an instinct to employ 

 that organ or instrument ; guided by intelligence, it will make more 

 or less happy use of it. As individuals differ from one another in the 

 perfection of their vocal organs, so too they differ in the measure of 

 their control of those organs. Natural gifts and judicious exercise 

 afford immense advantages. All men possess a vocal apparatus : for 

 talking or for singing they usually employ it skillfully enough to an- 

 swer all common demands; while a privileged few produce wonderful 

 effects with the same instrumentalities. 



The mechanism of voice deserves to be studied by all. As regards 

 man, we now have very accurate knowledge of the manner in which 

 speech and singing are produced. Means having been found of view- 

 ing the play of the different parts of the larynx, physicians intent 

 upon the advancement of the art of healing, physiologists spurred on 

 by the desire of explaining phenomena, singers eager to penetrate the 

 secret of the highest achievements in their art, have all devoted them- 

 selves to patient researches. The results of a multitude of investiga- 

 tions have been published, and in this way science has been greatly 

 extended. Dr. Mandl, an observer who had already studied in its 

 minutest details the structure of the respiratory organs, has given the 

 fullest account yet presented of the vocal apparatus in all the phases 



