VOICE IN MAX AND IN ANIMALS. 389 



the result of a strange confusion of ideas. The ancients observed in 

 the larynx "organs resembling the mouth-pieces of ancient flutes, viz., 

 the parts on the right and left, which meet and regulate the passage 

 of the air." Later, the term denoting the folds which bound the ori- 

 fice was used to designate the orifice itself. This error has been con- 

 firmed by the usage of centuries, but yet it is better to give, as Mandl 

 does, to the space between the vocal lips, the name of glottic orifice, 

 or orifice of the glottis. The superior portion of the larynx is the ves- 

 tibule communicating directly with the back part of the mouth. 

 Above the entrance to the vestibule and back of the tongue, a fibro- 

 cartilaginous plate, the epiglottis, defends the passage. Under ordi- 

 nary circumstances, the epiglottis stands vertical, presenting no ob- 

 stacle to the free passage of air in both directions. When depressed, 

 it covers the opening. Every one, from personal experience, is famil- 

 iar with the painfnl sensation produced by the entrance of liquids or 

 solids into the respiratory passages. Apparently the epiglottis closes 

 up this passage during the act of swallowing, but on this point we have 

 no certainty; we cannot observe the act of deglutition, and we know 

 that the vocal cords may be moistened by liquids without causing 

 inconvenience. 



Like every other organ, the larynx presents considerable indi- 

 vidual differences. A good development of the larynx indicates a 

 strong, deep voice. In childhood this apparatus undergoes very 

 little chang*e, but at the period of adolescence it grows very rapidly, 

 the effect being an alteration of the voice, very notable in boys, but 

 inconsiderable in girls. In all cases, without regard to stature, the 

 larynx is smaller in women than in men. Its angles are less salient, 

 its muscles weaker, its cartilages thinner, and more supple : the sharp 

 notes of the instrument are the evidences of these peculiarities of con- 

 formation. Though our general knowledge of the vocal organs is very 

 positive, nevertheless we are unable to determine the characters of the 

 voice by simply examining the larynx, for it is impossible to compare 

 in all their details those instruments whose good or bad qualities are 

 known. 



The vocal apparatus is perfected by the addition of the cavities which 

 produce resonance, viz., the pharynx, the mouth, and the nasal fossae. 

 The pharyngeal cavity, into which open the oesophagus and the larynx, 

 is continuous with the buccal cavity, a hollow box admirably adapted 

 for articulation. Its shape and size are extremely variable. The 

 cheeks constitute walls which can be compressed or dilated with the 

 slightest effort ; the lips, which bound the anterior opening, are per- 

 fectly mobile ; the tongue can be moved in every direction ; in the 

 rear, the velum palati, or soft palate, suspended from the palatal arch, 

 is supple and contractile. This veil of the palate is simply a fold of 

 mucous membrane, separating the buccal from the pharyngeal cavi- 

 ty; it also extends to the nasal fossse, which it closes; it terminates 



