281 PHILOSOPHY OF ZOOLOGY. 



the same purpose; and are encouraged in the attempt , 

 by the facility with which we can thus express to others 

 the ideas which external objects have excited in our own 

 minds. By attending to the words themselves by which 

 objects are distinguished, we perceive manifest differences 

 in the nature of the sounds, and in the manner of produ- 

 cing them. We annex to these differences particular names* 

 and employ particular symbols addressed to the eye to dis- 

 tinguish them, and thus form what is termed an Alphabet. 

 The letters are divided, by grammarians, into vowels and 

 Consonants. This arrangement is likewise suited to the 

 physiologist. 



In uttering the vowel sounds, the mouth is open, and the 

 differences are produced by the position of the tongue, and 

 the form which we give to the opening by the lips. The 

 consonants, on the other hand, are formed by the almost 

 total interruption of the expelled air, for a time, by the 

 tongue, lips, palate, or teeth. The labial consonants, (of 

 the English language,) are formed by the contact of the 

 lips, as in M, B, P. The sound of W is intermediate be- 

 tween that of a vowel and consonant, as the lips are never 

 so completely closed as in the latter 3 nor so distant as in 

 the former. The dentdabml are produced by the union 

 or separation of the upper front teeth with the under lip, 

 as F, V. The palatine consonants are formed by the 

 application of the tongue to the palate, as H, L, N, R, S, 

 X, or as C, D, G> I, T, Z, together with K and Q. 



By means of these various sounds, either separately or 

 variously combined, man is able to form symbols by which 

 to designate the objects of nature and their conditions, and 

 to reveal the secret workings of his soul. But in this power 

 of communicating his thoughts, he is limited to the family 

 or tribe in which he has been reared, and whose arbitrary 

 sounds he has learned to imitate and comprehend. Beyond 



