486 MUSCULAR MOTION. 



breath is forced through the mouth, which is every where a little con- 

 tracted. It need hardly be said, that the enunciation of these letters 

 requires, that the vocal tube, or the parts concerned in the function, 

 shall be in a sound condition. 1 



A few years ago, (1846,) an ingenious German, named Faber, ex- 

 hibited publicly in Philadelphia a speaking automaton, in the construc- 

 tion of which he found that the alphabet can be simplified still further. 

 The precise mechanism he did not unfold ; but affirmed that the parts 

 were made of elastic materials to resemble as nearly as possible the 

 human vocal organs. These parts were susceptible of varied move- 

 ments by means of keys. The author was much struck by the distinct- 

 ness with which the automaton could enunciate various letters and words. 

 The combination three was well pronounced; the th less perfectly; but 

 astonishingly well. It also enunciated diphthongs and numerous diffi- 

 cult combinations of sounds. Sixteen keys were sufficient to produce 

 all the sounds. It sang " God save the Queen" and "Hail Columbia" 

 the words and air combined. 



The following is the alphabet of the automaton. 1. Five simple 

 vowels: for example a as in father; o as in home; u as in ruin; i as e 

 and e as a. 2. Nine consonants, I, r, w (the German w the English 

 w is oo), /, 8, sh in shall, and b, d, g hard, as in give. 3. A nasal 

 sound and an aspirate; making in all sixteen simple sounds. From 

 these the compound sounds are formed, as in the following examples : 

 b and the nasal form m; d and the nasal, n: if the nasal sound be pre- 

 vented, me becomes be; not becomes dot ; g and the nasal form ng ; b 

 and the aspirate formp; d and the aspirate, t; g and the aspirate, Jc; 

 sh and the nasal, th; wf or uf form v; d and sh,j and g soft; t and sh, 

 ch in chin. The diphthongs admitted by Mr. Faber are ai i, eu u; and 

 au sounded as in how. 



Wolfgang von Kempelen, 2 in a work on the mechanism of human 

 speech, which is considered classical in Germany, and in which he 

 treats of a speaking automaton (Sprachmaschine) of his inven- 

 tion, divides the consonants into four classes. 1. Mutes, (ganz 

 s t u m m e ,) as K, P, T. 2. Explosives, ( W indmitlauter,) as F, 

 H, Ch, S, and Sh. 3. Vocal consonants, (S t i m m i 1 1 a u t e r ,) as B, 

 D, G, L, M, and N; and 4. Vocal Explosives, (W ind und Stimm- 

 lauter zugleich,) as R, I, W, V, Z. Dr. Thomas Young has, 

 likewise, divided the English consonants into classes; of which he enu- 

 merates five. 1. Pure semi-vowels, as L, R, V, Z, and J. 2. Nasal 

 semi-vowels, as M and N. 3. Explosive letters, as B, D, and G. 4. 

 Susurrant letters, as H, F, X, and S ; and 5. Mutes, as P, T, K ; but 

 the most satisfactory classification, in a physiological, as well as philo- 

 logical point of view, is according to the parts of the vocal tube more 

 immediately concerned in their articulation. 



1 See Mayo, Outlines of Human Physiology, 3d edit., p. 357, Lond., 1833,- also, Haller, 

 Element. Physiol., lib. ix. 4, Lausan. 1766. 



a Mechanismus der Menschlichen Sprache, s. 228, Wien, 1791; and Rudolphi, Grundriss 

 der Physiologic, 2ter Band, Iste Abtheil. s. 398, Berlin, 1823. 



