218 On the Laryngoscope. | April, 
ment against the palate, and reflecting thereon the sunlight with a 
common back-hair glass, he saw the epiglottis and upper part of 
the larynx. He subsequently attached to the mirror a tongue- 
depressor, but after a time abandoned this addition, and substituted 
polished steel for the glass mirrors.* In 1830, Gerdy wrote, “La 
contraction du pharynx se vérifie aisément a l’ceil au moyen du 
miroir.” In the year 1832, Dr. Bennati, of Paris, announced to 
the world the possibility of seeing the vocal chords by means of an 
instrument, in all probability exactly similar to, if not identical 
with, that of Selligue, to be immediately described.t Trousseau and 
Belloc, in their ‘Memoire sur la Phthisie Laryngée,’ published in 
1837, refer to an instrument made by an ingenious mechanic, 
named Selligue, who was affected with that disease. It closely 
resembled that of Bozzini, consisting of “ a double-tubed speculum, of 
which one tube served to convey the light to the glottis, and the _ 
other to bring back to the eye the image of the glottis, reflected in 
the mirror placed at the guttural extremity of the instrument. 
These authors state that it was very difficult of application, and 
that not one in ten could bear its introduction. In 1838, Monsieur 
Beaumés, of Lyons, exhibited before the Medical Society of that city 
a mirror for the examination of the throat, larynx, and posterior 
part of the nasal cavities.§ The distinguished surgeon Liston 
speaks of obtaining a view of an “ulcerated glottis by means of a 
small mirror, similar to that employed by dentists, on a long stalk, 
and dipped in hot water before its introduction into the throat.” || In 
1844, Dr. Adam Warden, of Edinburgh, read a paper before the 
Royal Scottish Society of Arts on ‘The Employment of a totally 
reflecting Prism for illuminating the open Cavities of the Body.’ 
Having been very successful in his examinations of the auditory 
canal, he directed his attention to the larynx, which he made visible 
by the employment of an additional prism placed in the throat, and 
associated with an instrument for depressing the tongue and expand- 
ing the faucial cavity. He referred to two cases, in which he had 
obtained “satisfactory ocular inspection of diseases affecting the 
glottis,” but evidently did not consider this mode of examination as 
one which promised much success. 
From 1846 to 1848, Mr. Avery, of London, employed instru- 
ments for inspecting the throat, posterior part of the nasal cavities, 
and other regions. His Laryngoscope was a cumbrous piece of 
apparatus, worn on the head and nearly a pound in weight. It 
consisted—1° of a circular reflector, perforated in the centre, for 
* Vide ‘Lond. Med. Gazette,’ March 28, 1829. 
+ ‘Physiologie Medicale,’ p. 503. 
t Vide ‘Recherches sur le Mécanisme de la Voix Humaine.’ 
§ Vide ‘Compte Rendu des Travaux de la Société de Médecine de Lyons,’ 
1836-38. 
|| ‘ Practical Surgery,’ 3rd edit., p. 417, published in 1840. 
