LAOB, 



LASERPITIUM. 



356 



variety and MMM of note* may b* produced ; and that the ihrill 

 wUstie of the bird-mil (with which b compared the larynx) is, 

 with UM MUM i in mill principle for tit* original formation of sound, 

 converted into a foil round too*. In the human body such a tube 

 exist* on both Mm at UM glottis, and it in both part* capable of 

 varieties in tension, sice, and form. Thui the trachea may be acted 

 on by its posterior muscle* and it* elutic band*; and to a far greater 

 i UM parto above the glottis will vary in their condition. In 



. toale of notes, if the finger be placed in the 



i DM angle of the thyroid cartilage and the front of 

 UM byoid bone, it wilfbe found that as the notes emitted become 

 hicher the intcrral diminishes and the whole larynx rises. Thus the 

 tab* above the glottit b abocteeed, jut at in all wind-instruments 

 UM body b shortened by opening UM holes at their aides, or by push- 

 ing one part of the tube within another. At the same time the lipa 

 are drawn in and compressed, the arches of the palate approximated, 

 UM uvula tightened, the back of the tongue and soft palate drawn 

 ear sack other, and the oral aperture into the larynx constricted, all 

 tending together, by a diminution of the size and an increase of the 

 teoaion, to accord with the diminished length of the tube, that their 

 vibrations may be in correspondence with those of the vocal liga- 

 ments. As the roice passes through the descending scale, the opposite 

 changes occur ; the vocal ligaments lengthen and are less tense, the 

 larynx descends, the cavity of the mouth is expanded, and all the 

 tissue* are relaxed. Hence it is that the singer, when his voice is 

 exerted in to highest notes, feels the greatest fatigue in the parts about 

 the palate and pharynx ; while in singing the lower notes he remains 

 mn wearied far longer, and at last feels fatigue chiefly in the muscles of 



It is difficult to determine the circumstances on which the differ- 

 eoos* of the timbre of the voice in different persons depend. The 

 diflerene* between UM male and female voices is probably owing to 

 UM comparative shortness of the vocal ligaments in the latter. Accord- 

 ing to Mullrr their average length in man is 18.J millimetres, in woman 

 only 12} millimetre*, or nearly as 3 to 2. But to account for the 

 dinVrenees of tenor and bass, or of soprano and alto voices, no good 

 evidence has yet been collected. The average compass of the voice is 

 two octaves, bat in different parts of the scale in different persons ; 

 thns a baas voice commonly has its lowest note four or five notes lower 

 than a tenor, while a tenor has its highest note from four to five notes 

 above the highest note of the baas voice, A soprano voice again has 

 iu lowest note at nearly the same part of the scale as the highest 

 note of a bass voice ; and thns the whole compass of the human 

 voice, from the lowest of UM bass to the highest of the soprano, would 

 be nearly four octaves. The voices of children resemble very nearly 

 those of women, bat in main a remarkable change takes place at 

 puberty, when the voice is said to crack ; the change from the shrill 

 treble voice of the boy to the fuller and rounder tone of the man is 

 snastimss perfected almost suddenly ; but in most cases it is for some 

 time in progress, wavering between the two extremes, deep and manly 

 during quwt enunciation, but when any exertion is used, suddenly 

 starting up again to the shrill tones of boyhood. In old sge, the 

 cartilage, of the larynx becoming bony, the ligaments hard and un- 

 yielding, and its mueelee pale and powerless, the voice completely 

 alUrs; it trembles as if there wen not sufficient strength in the 

 i to maintain a due tension of UM vocal ligaments; it becomes 



"Tarslaf sgala toward. chlldUh Ircblii, 

 rips* sad whittle* Is the soond." 



Much yet remain* unknown of the actions of the various part* of 

 the Ury. but enough ha* been laid to prove that it is perhaps the 

 nxMt p*rf*ct piw of complex mechanism in existence. Judging of it, 

 as we must do. by comparison with the imperfect contrivances of art, 

 it b not poieibU that w* should b* able to dboem all the beauties of 

 an Iniliussiul which in a *pae* of about six inches by two inches 

 produce, a rang* of note* of between two and three octaves, all of 

 perfect learn*** and harmony, and with a tone far superior to any 

 yet known which fa capable at the same time of giving a wide range 

 a/ rxprwrioo, and varied degrw* of power-of executing difficult and 

 Intricate p*s**ge* with the greatest rapidity and diatinetne**-and 

 U*a above all will bat for yean without need of repair, and is even 

 Imprond by a judicious us*. The larynx fulfils all this, and is 

 b*nio*> MDHrviMt to other function* of vital importance to the whole 

 bodr. In breathing for example, it* exquisite sensibility i. immediately 

 rotted by UM contact of any foreign subrtance, or of a d.lctorious 

 gas, and the glottis b Brady closed by UM thyro-arytenoid muscles, 

 UM entrance of the noxious body into the lungs. The 

 """ * * swallow each portion of our food, to pre- 

 the lungs : and if a particle by accident 

 b excited to ensure iu speedy removal. 



;- w ~ I. a violent exertion, a man first draws a full 

 hrsnUi, and Axes his chest that b. may have a firm support for all the 

 mu*eU* of bis limbs; the same little muscle, a*sbt in this action by 

 "{"k.**ffc**> and thus preventing an v portion of the air from 

 f fcroM from the chest, however great the exertion of the muscles 



wnMd among the andente. It had 



s * sw 



vent any of it passing into th 

 touch UM glottis, coughing is 

 Again, when about to make a 



become rare even in the time of Pliny, but it is described by Dios- 

 oorides (lib. Hi. c. 84), and still more f:illy by Theophrastus under the 

 name of Silphion (Zi'A^o*, lib. vi c. 3). In the edition of Bodttus b 

 Stspel a most elaborate dissertation may be seen, in which apparently 

 almost everything that occurs respecting it in ancient authors is 

 brought together. Though the whole plant appears latterly to have 

 been called Silphion, this name was originally that of the root. The 

 stem of the plant is called /uiyuSafit by Thcophrastus, the leaf 

 fuitrrirov, the seed ^v\\on. These names are however differently 

 applied by other authors. Laser was subsequently called Lasaron, 

 and was applied to the juice alone. This waa in such high estimation 

 as to have been sold for its weight in gold, having many marvellous 

 properties ascribed to it, but it was probably useful only as a stimulant 

 to some of the functions and as an untispaamodic. The country where 

 it was produced has been clearly laid down as the Cyrcuaicn Kegio, 

 and the physicians of Cyrene, we know, early attained a high reputa- 

 tion. Tbeophrastus gives a wider extent of distribution along the 

 north of Africa, stating at the same time that the greater portion was 

 collected near the Syrtes. Diosoorides gives Syria, Armenia, Media, 

 and Libya, as the countries Vbenoe it waa procured. The produce of 

 this plant having been so valuable, it necessarily became a considerable 

 source of revenue, and was represented on the coins of Cyrene ; another 

 is represented in the above edition of Theophrastus, with the head of 

 a beardless man on the obverse, while a third is described as figured 

 in Viviani's 'Flora Libyca,' in which the figure ia bearded, but iu all 

 the plant is exactly the same. 



From the descriptions and representations of the plant on those 

 coins there can be no doubt of its being one of the UmbtUifenr, and 

 it has successively been thought to be Laierpitium Siler and gnmmi- 

 ferum, Liijtaticum latifolium. Ferula tinyitana, &c. But as the natural 

 history of the countries becomes investigated, whence the ancients 

 obtained the substances they have described, these doubts give way 

 to certainties, or very near approximations to the truth. Delia Cella, 

 who travelled in the Cyrenaica in 1817, having found an umbelliferous 

 plant on the mountains of Cyrene, and the only one at all resembling 

 the representation on the coins, would appear to have finally deter- 

 mined the question. This plant haa been described by Viviani in lim 

 ' Flora Libyca,' and named Thaptia Silphion; it is very closely allied 

 to T. garganica of De Candolle, and a description of it may be seen 

 in Dr. Lind ley's ' Flora Medico,' p. 52. The root is said to yield a 

 juice, which, according to the testimony of the natives of the country, 

 is possessed of very valuable medical properties. H. Pacho, who 

 travelled subsequently in the same country, thinks he has found the 

 Laser, or Lajterpiliuin, in Cyrenaica and Marnmrico, and has called 

 the plant Laterpitium Dcritu. (' Voyage dans la Cyrenaique.' 

 Paris, 1827.) 



There appears however to have been from the earliest times two 

 kinds of Laser. Thus Pliny, " Diu jam non aliud ad DOS invehitur 

 laser, quam quod in Perside aut Media et Armenia nascitur large, Bed 

 multo infra Cyrenaicum." Dioscorides also states some to have been 

 procured from Armenia and Media, Hence it is probable that some 

 similar substance was substituted for the more highly esteemed Cyro- 

 naican juice when this became scarce. There can be very little doubt 

 that Aasafcotida was at one time substituted for it, at least since the 

 time of the Arabs, for Avioenna describe, his liultect, which is asm- 

 fictida, as of two kinds, one foetid, and the other fragrant, the latter 

 from the 'regio Chiruana' in the Latin translation; while Anjidan, 

 which are the seeds of the assafcotida plant, are translated Ltuerpitium. 

 That assafottida was an article of export from Persia in very early 

 times we know, from seeing it noticed in the Sanscrit ' Amara Kosho,' 

 which is at least of as early a date as the commencement of the 

 Christian era. The juice and seeds of the assafcotida are likewise 

 both used as medicinal substances, and the former esteemed even as 

 a condiment by Asiatic natives. While the root of the Silphium, 

 which grew on Paropamisus with pines, is mentioned by Arriaii as 

 affording food to numerous herds of cattle. This has been stated by 

 Mr. Moorcroft to be the case, even in the present day, with an<>ih< r 

 Umbelliferous Plant in the same regions, that is Pranyoi pabtUaria, 

 which is therefore conjectured by Dr. Uoylo to be one of the kiiidn 

 of Silphium. |Sn I-FIUM.] 



LASKKPITIUM (the name of the ancient Silphium), a genus of 

 Plants belonging to the natural order Umbellifcra. It has a calyx 

 with a 5-toothed rim ; the petals obovate, emarginate, with an inflected 

 lobe ; the fruit compressed from the back, or somewhat taper, 8- winged, 

 that is, the half-fruits with five primary filiform ridges, and four winged 

 secondary ones ; a vitta in the channel below each secondai y ridge. 

 The s|ieoies are herbaceous plants, with 2-3-pinnate leaves, and entire 

 toothed or cut segments ; many-rayed showy umbels ; the involucres 

 many-leaved ; the flowers white, rarely yellow. 



L. ylnbrum, glabrous Laserwort, has bipinnate leaven, quite glabrous 

 in every part ; the leaflets obliquely cordate, here and there mucronato 

 and toothed ; leaves of the involucre setaceous; wings of the fruit 

 equal, rather curled. This plant is a native of mountainous districts 

 "f Europe in dry and stony places. It attains a height of 1 or 2 feet 

 on the Alps, but in cultivation is a much larger plant. The root is 

 filled with a gum-rmin, which is acrid, bitter, and even somewhat 

 caustic. It is said to be a violent purgative. The French call it 

 TnrLilh aux Montagues and Faux Turbith. 



