LIGAMENTS OF THE GLOTTIS. 181 



either to or from the lungs, and is possessed by all ani- 

 mals, and those only, that are provided with lungs. In 

 this figure, you see the trachea surmounted by a 

 sort of capacious box, formed by 

 thick cartilaginous walls. This 

 part is called the larynx, or organ 

 of voice. It is this which forms 

 the prominence in the front of the 

 neck, called Adam's apple. 



Emily. What a whimsical 

 name for an organ of the body. 

 Pray, what did it originate from : 

 Dr. B. There is a story 

 recorded by some of the old an- 

 atomists, that when Adam swal- 

 lowed the apple, it stuck in his 

 throat, and produced this prom- 

 inence which has ever since been 

 faithfully transmitted to his pos- 

 terity. 



Emily. A fact well remem- 

 bered, and ought to be borne in 

 mind when the curiosity of our 

 common mother is made the 

 subject of wilicism. 



Dr. B. The larynx is pro- 

 vided with a number of muscles, the use of which is t0 

 move it as a whole, or its different parts on one another. 

 It opens at the top into the pharynx by a longitudinal 

 slit, or chink, called the chink of the glottis, about eight 

 lines in length,' and two or three in width. 



Emily. It is this chink which is covered by the epig 

 lottis, and is closed in the act of swallowing, I believe. 



Dr. B. The same ; at its inferior portion, we find 

 the two broad ligaments stretching across, one from each 

 side, and leaving between, a longitudinal slit opposite to, 

 and very similar to that of the glottis. These ligaments 

 can be relaxed or made tense, and are set into rapid vi- 

 brations when the air rushes through them. 

 16 



