THE SPEECH OF MONKEYS. 1 83 



prolong for some seconds, and in the act of re- 

 producing this I cut the sound in two and find 

 the vowel element is not modified by the conso- 

 nant which preceded it; hence I observe that 

 the consonant merely suggests to the mind a cer- 

 tain form of sound which does not change the 

 fundamental vowel. In fact, it aids the voice 

 somewhat in uttering the vowel. 



If human speech were composed of none but 

 vowel sounds, the human voice could scarcely 

 utter them in a continued conversation ; their 

 monotony would not so much offend the ear as it 

 would try the vocal powers, and man would soon 

 acquire consonants to aid the voice, if for no other 

 use. 



Among the simians the better types of speech 

 show this tendency, and in the lower types of 

 human speech we find all the vowel elements, 

 while consonants are not by any means so nu- 

 merous. Another fact is that among the lower 

 races of mankind double consonants are rare and 

 treble more so. Of course their tongues consist 

 of fewer words, as has been shown before, which 

 paucity arises from their few wants and simple 

 modes of life, and hence the scope of vocal 

 growth is much contracted. Beginning with the 



