VOICE VENTRILOQUISM. 477 



tongue, together with the uvula, from a cancerous affection ; she still, 

 however, retained the power of speech, taste, and deglutition without 

 any imperfection ; articulating as fluently and correctly as other persons ; 

 and even those syllables that commonly require the aid of the tip of the 

 tongue for accurate enunciation. She also sang admirably; articulat- 

 ing her words whilst singing; and could form no conception of the use 

 of a tongue in other people. Her teeth were few; and rose scarcely 

 higher than the surface of the gums, owing to the injury to the sockets 

 from the disease that had destroyed the tongue. The case, when first 

 laid before the Royal Society, was attested by the minister of the parish, 

 by a medical practitioner of repute, and by another respectable indivi- 

 dual. The Society, however, were not satisfied, and appointed commis- 

 sioners to inquire into the case, whose report coincided minutely with 

 the first; and, to set the matter completely 'at rest, the young woman 

 was shortly afterwards conveyed to London, and examined, in person, 

 before the Royal Society. 1 



These cases are not so extraordinary as they appear at first sight; 

 when we consider, that the tongue is not the sole organ of articulation, 

 but that it shares the function with the various parts that compose the 

 vocal tube. In reality, of the twenty-four articulate sounds, which our 

 common alphabet comprises, there are few in which the tongue takes a 

 distinct lead, as I, d, , r, &c., though it is auxiliary to several others; 

 but the guttural or palatine, </, A, k, q; the nasal, m, and n; the 

 labial, 5, p, /, v; and most of the dental, together with all the vowels, 

 are little indebted to its assistance. 



Prom these, and other concurrent facts, Dr. Good 2 concludes, that 

 ventriloquism appears to be an imitative art, founded on a close atten- 

 tion to the almost infinite variety of tones, articulations, and inflexions, 

 which the glottis is capable of producing in its own region alone, when 

 long and dexterously practised upon ; and in a skilful modification of 

 these vocal sounds, thus limited to the glottis, into mimic speech, passed 

 for the most part, and whenever necessary, through the cavity of the 

 nostrils, instead of through the mouth. It is possible, he adds, though 

 no opportunity has hitherto occurred of proving the fact by dissection, 

 that they who learn this art with facility, and carry it to perfection, 

 possess some peculiarity in the structure of the glottis, and particularly 

 in respect to its muscles or cartilages. MM. Magendie 3 and Rullier, 4 

 however, affirm, that the quiescence of the lips, observed in the practised 

 ventriloquist when enunciating, is more apparent than real; and that if 

 he be capable of pronouncing without moving his lips, it is because he is 

 careful to make use of words in which there are no labial consonants, 

 or which do not absolutely require the movement of the lips in their for- 

 mation. M. Rullier, indeed, denies positively, that the ventriloquist can 

 speak without opening his mouth and moving his lips; but he affirms, 

 that he uses his jaws, mouth, and lips, as little as possible in articula- 

 tion; and he ascribes the common belief in their perfect quiescence to 



1 Elliotson's Human Physiology, p. 507, Lond., 1840. See a curious chapter on the Use of 

 Tongues in Southey, The Doctor, vii. i., Lond., 1847. 



2 Op. citat. 3 Precis, &c., i. 265. 

 4 Art. Engastrimysme, in Diet, de Medecine, torn, viii., Paris, 182 3. 



