53 



32. The Palate is of a bony substance, a little 

 concave, and clothed with a thick membrane, which 

 has the same kind of nervous papilla) and small glands, 

 that are seen in the surface of the tongue. And 

 hence it is qualified to assist the taste, as well as the 

 speech. 



It would be endless to specify the curious mccha. 

 nism of all the parts that concur to form the voice. 

 However, let us note two things : 1. There are thir- 

 teen muscles provided for moving the five cartilages of 

 the wind- pipe. 2. It is amazing that the glottis, (the 

 upper part of the wind-pipe) can so exquisitely con. 

 tract or dilate itself, to form all notes. u Suppose 

 (says Dr. Keil) the greatest distance of the two sides of 

 the glottis to be one tenth of an inch, in sounding 

 twelve notes (to which the voice easily reaches) this 

 line must be divided into twelve parts, each of which 

 gives the aperture requisite for such a note. But if 

 we consider the subdivision of notes into which the 

 voicecan run, the motion of the sides of the glottis is 

 still vastly nicer : for if of two chords, sounding ex- 

 actly unisons, one be shortened but the two thousandth 

 part of its length., a just ear will perceive the disagree- 

 ment, and a good voice will sound the difference : and 

 yet this is only the one hundredth and ninety-sixth part 

 of a note. But suppose the voice can divide only 

 into a hundred parts, it follows, that the different 

 apertures of the glottis, actually divide the tenth part 

 of an inch, into twelve hundred parts, the effect of 

 each of which produces a sensible alteration upon a 

 good ear." 



33. The Uvula is a round, oblong,fteshy substance, 

 suspended near tht passage from the mouth into the 

 nostrils, and probably designed to hinder the cold air, 

 from rushing too fast into the lungs, as well as to 

 prevent the food we swallow from regurgitating into 

 the nostrils. 



The Tonsils, or almonds of the ear, arc two small 



