0ota, ^^ait0uii0e, 1|I)0iTctix Spelling, 



By ARTHUR B. PROWSE, M.D., F.R.C.S. 



Abstract of Paper read April Atli^ 1889. 



Sound is caused by vibrations, transmitted by the air. 

 Sounds are classified into noises, musical sounds, and vocal 

 sounds. The lowest number of vibrations perceived by the 

 ear is from 15 to 20 per second, and the most acute sound 

 audible is caused by from 20,000 to 70,000 in the same 

 period of time. Voice, or vocal sound, is produced and 

 modified by certain parts of the human body, named the 

 vocal organs ; and language is '' articulate voice." 



Originally the term ' language ' was limited to Speech, but 

 its meaning has since been extended — so that we now talk 

 also of " written language " and the " language of gesture." 

 It is a fallacy to maintain, as some have done, that mind is 

 created by language. The custom .of accepting as truth 

 theories built upon very shaky foundations is far too preva- 

 lent in these days. An instance of this " science, falsely 

 so-called," is the very widely accepted theory of the 

 " evolution of species ^''^ and the still wilder ideas based upon 

 its assumed truth ; for while, with one breath, scientists 

 confess that the crucial facts to establish Darwin's ingenious 

 hypothesis are utterly wanting, with the next breath they 



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