THE TONGUE AND SPEECH. 197 



beloved Amsterdam ; and we learn, moreover, that when 

 certain weak souls counselled that the city of the dykes 

 should be handed over to Louis XIV., Tulp was one 

 of the foremost in advising a patriotic resistance to 

 the proposal. 



For full fifty years, we learn, Tulp practised medi- 

 cine in his city. As was usual with a man of acute 

 observation, he contrived to place on record not a few 

 of the curious experiences he met with in the course 

 of his practice. For example, in 1652, Dr. Tulp pub- 

 lished at Amsterdam a work entitled " Observationes 

 Medicae," and in the course of this treatise we find him 

 relating a case of interest in connection with the tongue 

 in its relation to speech. It had been hotly debated 

 whether or not the lt unruly member " was absolutely 

 necessary for speech. Tulp's opportunity of contri- 

 buting to the elucidation of this question arrived with 

 his observation of a case in which a man's tongue had 

 been removed, and in whom, therefore, the facts of its 

 relation to articulation could be conveniently studied. 



The man was called Joannes the Dumb. He lived 

 at Weesp, a town about eight miles from Amsterdam, 

 and now celebrated for its great cocoa works. It seems 

 that in one of his voyages Joannes had fallen into the 

 clutches of pirates, who, imbued with proselytising de- 

 sires, sought to make him embrace the Mohammedan 

 faith. But the Dutch courage was strong, and the 

 Dutch nature stubborn. Joannes resisted the polite 

 request of his captors, and, as a result, his tongue was 

 duly excised by way of punishing him for his non- 

 appreciation of the piratical offer. He returned to 

 Holland, and was unable to speak. But, some three 

 years after his return, Joannes received another severe 

 mental shock in the shape of a flash of lightning, which 



