RESPIRATION. 8 ( J 



we are hardly conscious of the laborious task, and far less of 

 the manner by which we pronounce different letters and 

 words. The mode of pronouncing letters and words, how- 

 ever, may be learned by attentively observing the different 

 organs employed by the speaker. By this means we are 

 enabled to correct the various defects of speech, and even to 

 'teach the dumb to speak ; for dumbness is seldom the effect 

 of imperfection in the organs of speech, but generally arises 

 from a want of hearing ; and it is impossible for deaf men to 

 imitate sounds which they never heard, except they be taught 

 to use their organs by vision and by touching. 



When about to laugh, we make a very full inspiration, 

 which is succeeded by frequent, interrupted, and sonorous 

 expirations. When the titillation is great, whether it arises 

 from the mind or body, these convulsive expirations some- 

 times interrupt the breathing to such a degree as to endanger 

 suffocation. Moderate laughing, on the contrary, produces 

 health ; by agitating the whole body, it quickens the circula- 

 tion of the blood, gives an inexpressible cheerfulness to the 

 countenance, and banishes every kind of anxiety from the 

 mind. 



In weeping, we employ nearly the same organs as in laugh- 

 ing. It commences with a deep inspiration, which is suc- 

 ceeded by short, broken, sonorous, and disagreeable expira- 

 tions. The countenance has a dismal aspect, and tears are 

 poured out. Weeping originates from grief, or other painful 

 sensations either of body or mind. When full vent is given 

 to tears, grief is greatly alleviated. Both laughing and weep- 

 ing have been reckoned peculiar to man. But this notion 

 seems not to be well founded. Though the other animals 

 express not their pleasures or pains in the same manner as we 

 do, yet all of them exhibit their pleasant or painful feelings 

 by symptoms or cries, which are perfectly understood by the 

 individuals of each species, and, in many instances, by man. 

 A dog, when hurt, complains in the bitterest terms; and 

 when he is afraid, or perhaps melancholy, he expresses the 

 situation of his mind by the most deplorable howlings. A 

 bird, when sick, ceases to sing, droops the wing, abstains 

 from food, assumes a lurid aspect, utters melancholy, weak 

 cries, and exhibits every mark of depressed spirits. By this 

 means, animals intimate the assistance they require, or soften 

 those who maltreat them. Their plaintive cries are some- 

 times so affecting as to disarm their enemies, or to procure 

 the aid of their equals. On the other hand, when animals 

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