COMMON THINGS MAN. 



' 18. But of all the organs to which man owes his superiority, 

 that of voice is incontestably the most important. He alone, 

 among all created beings, is endowed with the power of producing 



Fig. 15. The White-Throated Monkey. 



articulate sounds in infinite variety, and applying them to the 

 expression of his thoughts, sentiments, and feelings. By this 

 power he is enabled to communicate with his kind, to inter- 

 change with them the expressions of kindness and affection, and 

 to impart and receive knowledge and information. Great as this 

 power is, it is augmented in a manifold proportion by the device of 

 expressing oral sounds by written or printed characters. By this 

 expedient oral language becomes visible, and is, so to speak, 

 perpetuated ; the discourse which is spoken or listened to, how- 

 ever impressive may be the eloquence of the speaker, and however 

 profound the attention of the hearer, may, and generally does, 

 soon fade from the memory, but language printed or written is 

 permanent, 



Litera scripta manet, 



and may be referred to again and again until the reader renders 

 it his own. 



The printed book can be handed down and reproduced indefi- 

 nitely from age to age, and those of one generation are thus 

 enabled to listen to the precepts and imbibe the counsels of the 

 wisest and most virtuous of former times. 

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