CHAPTER XI 



THE VOICE 



Voice and Speech The Larynx, or the Organ of the Voice The Vocal 

 Cords The Laryngoscope The Production of the Voice The Use 

 of the Tongue The Different Varieties of Voice The Change of 

 Voice Its Compass Purity of Tone Ventriloquy 



1. Voice and Speech. In common with the majority of the 

 nobler animals, man possesses the power of uttering sounds, 

 which are employed as a means of communication and expres- 

 sion. In man these sounds constitute the voice ; in the animals 

 they are designated as the cry. The song of the bird is a 

 modification of its cry, which is rendered possible from the fact 

 that its respiratory function is remarkably active. The sounds 

 of the animals are generally produced by means of their 

 breathing organs. Among the insects, they are sometimes 

 produced by the extremely rapid vibrations of the wings in 

 the act of flight, as in the case of the mosquito ; or by the 

 rubbing together of hard portions of the external covering of 

 the body, as in the cricket. Almost all kinds of marine ani- 

 mals are voiceless. The tambour-fish and a few others have, 

 however, the power of making a sort of noise in the water. 

 (Bead Note 1.) 



2. But man alone possesses the faculty of speech, or the 

 power to use articulate sounds in the expression of ideas, and 



1. Voice in Man and Animals. " The human voice, taking male 

 and female together, has a range of nearly four octaves. Man's power 

 of speech, or the utterance of articulate sounds, is due to his intel- 

 lectual development more than to any great structural difference between 

 him and the Apes. Song is produced by the glottis, speech by the 

 mouth. The parrot and mocking-bird use the tongue in imitating 

 human sounds." Orton's Zoology. 



1. The uttering of sounds by animals ? How produced ? 



2. The evidence of man's superior endowment ? What is stated of the idiot ? Parrot ? 

 Raven ? 



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