10 Dr. Hall on the 



described, on the contrary, the mouth is closed by the pendulous 

 vail of the palate, now performing the office of a valve in a dif- 

 ferent situation, whilst the windpipe and nostrils communicate 

 and remain open. We thus see the pendulous vail of the palate 

 endued Tinth a double office, the first being accurately to close the 

 nostrils ; the second, to close what has been termed the isthmus 

 faucium. In the articulation of certain letters, again, we shall 

 have occasion to observe, that the posterior orifices of the nos- 

 trils are closed, whilst the orifice into the windpipe is, of course, 

 left freely open ; — so wonderfully and variously are the functions 

 of these delicate organs capable of being combined. 



I now proceed to the more immediate object of this essay, 

 namely, to explain the physiology or mechanism of articulation, 

 I shall, first, notice the effect of speech on the respiration, or 

 rather, on the act of expiration, which, it will be observed, is in 

 some cases completely interrupted and arrested ; in others, per- 

 formed through the nostrils ; in others, again, through the mouth 

 alone. I shall, in the second place, describe the offices of the 

 different parts comprising the organs of speech, in the articula- 

 tion of the principal consonants ; and in the third place, I shall 

 trace the action and function of these parts in the enunciation 

 of certain vaioels. 



We shall cease to be surprised at the fatigue expressed by 

 persons whose office it is to speak much in public, when we have 

 duly and fully examined the nature of the function of articula- 

 tion. It may be ascertained, by the merest experiment, that in 

 the pronunciation of the short word bat, we adopt a mechanism, 

 by which, not only are the different letters formed, but the respi- 

 ration i^ twice completely arrested ; — and that, in the pronuncia- 

 tion of the equally short word pan, we first interrupt the flow of 

 the air through the nostrils, whilst it is forced between the teeth 

 and upper lip, and then intercept the course of the air through 

 the mouth, and allow it to pass only through the nostrils. 



Speech might be considered, indeed, first, as an exertion and 

 trial of the muscular power ; and secondly, as exerting a bane- 

 ful influence, in certain cases, on the lungs themselves. The 



