364 



ORGANIC GROWTH 



SEC. 



certain sounds of the German or other native lanouaoe in a 

 peculiar manner, even when they are scattered in small 

 numbers among a population of German or other nationality, 

 unless we attribute it to peculiarities of the larynx, of its 

 muscles and nerves, that is, of the powers of movement in 

 the organ ? The native pronunciation must as undoubtedly 

 depend on the congenital structure of the larynx as, con- 

 versely, an artificially acquired pronunciation must in time 

 have an influence on that structure. We can most easily 

 form a judgment in this matter when we consider the dialects 

 of our native language, because here we are able to appre- 

 ciate the slightest variations. What variety we find in the 

 pronunciation of the German " ch," from the harsh throat- 

 sound of the Alemannic people in Switzerland and Upper 

 Baden to its complete conversion into " sch " which frequently 

 occurs among people of Prankish race ! I have special per- 

 sonal grounds for the conclusion that the faculty of producing 

 the Alemannic throat-sound is inherited, that it depends on 

 peculiarities of the larynx. But as we know almost every 

 village has its dialectic characteristics, and these evidently 

 depend in many cases on peculiarities of voice. The strangest 

 and ugliest peculiarities of voice and speech that can be found 

 among Germans are those of the inhabitants of the rural 

 part of the town of Tubingen : in their speech the shrillest 

 falsetto alternates with the harshest bass in all possible 

 transitions, which it is impossible for an ordinary German to 

 imitate. It seems as though the vocal muscles of these people 

 had been by the most laborious practice so distorted as to 

 pronounce the simplest sounds of speech in a perverted and 

 barbarous way. Any one who doubts that this is due to 

 peculiar anatomical and physiological relations of the vocal 

 organs — although the variations may be too minute to be 

 demonstrated — must believe it possible to produce with a 

 fiddle the tones of a brass instrument out of tune. And there 



