Dean D. Lewis 185 



described by Gcrliardt as the processus vooalis of tlie tliyroid cartila.u^'. 

 It may be compared to (lie other pericliondrial })rocessos by which I lie 

 elastic tissue of tlic lai-yiix is attached to the hiryngeal cartilages at dilTcr- 

 ent points. It is impossible to explain why tlie thyi'oid cartilage develops 

 as it does, but the relation (existing between tlie ril)rous tissue occupying 

 the concavity of ilic lamina mcdiaiia, and the clastic tissue of the liga- 

 mentnm vocah^ docs not resemble in tlic least the histological I'clations 

 existing between the hyaline substance of the arytenoid cartilages, and 

 their vocal processes. 



I have not found cartilage cells in the nodules occupying the anterior 

 extremities of the ligamenta vocalia. i would suggest that these 

 nodules be known as the noduli vocales. It is difTicult to assign to 

 these nodules their physiological function, but the inci'casc in the mnnhcr 

 of elastic fibers and their arrangement at this point, slrengthened, as 

 they are, by nnmerous round and spindle cells, would suggest that the 

 ligamenta vocalia are here subjected to their greatest tension, and ai'c 

 therefore re-inforced. 



TiTK Delation of the Musculus Vocalts to the 



LlOAMENTUM VOCALE. 



The relation (d' the innscnliis vocalis to tlic clastic lllx'i's of the liga- 

 mcntum vocale is highly important, and although it has been studied by 

 many anatomists and laryngologists in recent years, there is at the 

 present time no uniformity of opinion concei'ning it, oi- its functional 

 significance in the production or modification of higher tones. 



Tjudwig"' describes the musculus thyrco-aryta>noideus as being divi(k'd 

 into a poi-tio aryvocalis and arythyreoidca. TIk! foi'mci' division begins 

 upon the lower extremity of the anterior surface of the arytenoid carti- 

 lage, and passes in parallel bundles by the side of the ligamentum vocale. 

 to end in it. The shorter fibers end directly anterioi' to the apex of the 

 vocal process; the longer near the thyroid cartilage. ''J"'hese fibers, acting 

 simultaneously, draw the ligamentum vocale downward and outward. If 

 they act independently of each other, different segments of the ligament 

 will be affected in different ways. Fibers anterior to the insertion of the 

 muscle are rendered tense, while the fibers posterior to it arc in^laxcd. 

 Ludwig regards the ligamentum vocale as the tendon of the musculus 

 thyreo-aryta^noideus. 



Verson ^^ denies that any fibers of the musculus tbyi'i^o-aiTla-noideiis 

 are inserted into the elastic fibers of the ligamentum vocale. 



-' Ludwig: Lehrbuc;h der Physiologie der Menschen. Bd. i, pp. 567-570. 

 "Verson: Beitrage z. Kenntniss des Kehlkopfes u. der Trachea. Wien, 

 1868, p. 3. 



