CHAPTER XXV. 



THE VOICE. 



1. [The voice is a sound produced in the larynx, or wind- 

 pipe, by the passage of air, either to or from the lungsJ It 

 is generally caused in the act of respiration, and(its seat is 

 the larynx) which forms the very top of the wind-pipe, and 

 externally makes that prominence at the fore-part of the 

 neck, called Adam's apple. It is connected above with the 

 bone of the throat, by means of small muscles, and behind 

 with the esophagus, or passage to the stomach. 



2. ^The larynx is composed of four cartilages, closely con- 

 nected by membranes ; these are called the thyroid, the cri- 

 coid, and the two arytenoid cartilages. The thyroid cartilage 

 is shaped somewhat like a shield, and hence its nam^J It 

 forms the front and lateral part of the larynx, being broader 

 in front than behind, and made up of two parts whictf join 

 in the front of the neck at an acute angle^f thus making the 

 prominence spoken of above, (it has two projections above, 

 and two below ; the former connect it with the bone of the 

 tongue, and are called the upper horns ; by the latter which 

 are called the lower horns, it is united with the cricoid carti- 

 lage, by means of ligamentsy 



3. The cricoid cartilage is so called from its resemblance 

 to a ring. ^It lies immediately below the thyroid cartilage, 

 being broad at its sides, narrow in front, and connected with 

 the thyroid cartilage behind by a still broader surface 1 In 

 front it is not connected with the thyroid cartilage ; but the 

 space is occupied by the lining membrane of the larynx, 

 covered with the common integuments. 



4. (The aryt.enoid cartilages are much smaller than the oth- 

 ers, and are situated at the back part of the larynx, in con- 

 nection with the cricoid cartilage.)) (They have small mus- 



