Chap. 113.] 
SUPEJIFLUOUS LIMBS. 
95 
it was at the same period that his father's empire fell. Those 
children which begin to speak the soonest, begin to walk the 
latest. The human voice acquires additional strength at the 
fourteenth year ; but in old age it becomes more shrill again, 
and there is no living creature in which it is subject to more 
frequent changes. 
In addition to the preceding, there are still some singular 
circumstances that deserve to be mentioned with reference to 
the voice. If saw- dust or sand is thrown down in the orches- 
tra of a theatre, or if the walls around are left in a rough 
state, or empty casks are placed there, the voice is absorbed ; 
while, on the other hand, if the wall is quite straight, or if 
built in a concave form, the voice will move along it, and will 
convey words spoken in the slightest whisper from one 
end^^ to the other, if there is no inequality in the surface to 
impede its progress. The voice, in man, contributes in a great 
degree to form his physiognomy, for we form a knowledge of 
a man before we see him by hearing his voice, just as welP^ 
as if we had seen him with our eyes. There are as many 
kinds of voices, too, as there are individuals in existence, and 
each man has his own peculiar voice, just as much as his own 
peculiar physiognomy. Hence it is, that arises that vast di- 
versity of nations and languages throughout the whole earth : 
in this, too, originate the many tunes, measures, and inflexions 
that exist. But, before all other things, it is the voice that 
serves to express our sentiments, a power that distinguishes 
us from the beasts ; just as, in the same way, the various shades 
and differences in language that exist among men have created 
an equally marked difference between us and the brutes. 
CHAP. 113. (52.) SUPERFLUOUS LIMBS. 
Supernumerary limbs, when they grow on animals, are of 
DO use, which is the case also with the sixth finger, when it 
grows on man. It was thought proper in Egypt to rear a 
human monster, that had two additional eyes in the back part 
of the head ; it could not see with them, however. 
Like the whispering gallery of St. Paul's Cathedral. 
" Non aliter quam oculis." On this, few will be found to agree with 
Pliny. 
And not to " conceal " them, according to the opinion of some modern 
politicians. 
