THE LiiSlTMX 
Cjje Source of tljeiotoel Sounte; 
BY THOMAS BRIAN GUNNING, 
NEW YORK. 
BALTIMORE: 
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF DENTAL SCIENCE, 
No. 8f> West Fayette Street. 
187L THE LARYNX 
* 
THE SOURCE OF THE VOWEL SOUNDS; 
BY THOMAS BRIAN GUNNING, 
y > 
AUTHOR OF A PAMPHLET ON THE 
"TREATMENT OF FRACTURE OF THE LOWER JAW 
BY INTERDENTAL SPLINTS;” 
AND OF AN EXTENDED MEMOIR ON THE 
"MUSCLES OF THE HEAD, NECK, JAW AND 
PALATE.” 
BALTIMORE : 
AMERICAN JOURNAL OK DENTAL SCIENCE 
1874. Entered according to act of Congress in the year 1873, by William Jessup 
Gunning, in the office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington. THE I , zV 11 Y X X 
hf. Source of the Vowel Sounds.! 
What I have observed in dental practice, associated with 
much special attention to speech, as heard in different forms 
of the mouth, from infanc}7 to old age, not merely in nor- 
mal conditions, but also in congenital and acquired de- 
ficiencies of the palate, and other defects, having convinced 
me that the source of the vowel sounds is misunderstood by 
those considered as authority upon the subject, I propose to 
show: 
First, how the vowels are said to be formed in the mouth ; 
Second, that the}7 cannot be formed in the mouth ; 
Third, where and how they are formed. 
The human larynx divided into upper and lower cavities 
by the inferior or true vocal chords, and protected by its 
movable cover, the epiglottis, is well known to be the 
organ of voice. It is also understood that voice is produced 
by the air being forced from the lungs through the trachea 
and vocal chords, and that the pitch of the tones depends 
upon the vibrations of the vocal chords, as modified by their 
length, width, tension, etc., while the volume of the tone is 
regulated by the parts below. 
It is also known that each tone of the voice has not only 
its fundamental tone, but that it includes also what are 
known as overtones, these being tones whose rates of vi- 
bration are twice, three times, four times, five times, etc.— 2 
that of the fundamental, and that different admixtures of 
the fundamental, and one or more of its overtones form the 
vowel sounds of speech and song. After much investiga- 
tion and experiment by men of science, it lias been decided 
that this change of vocal tones into the vowel sounds is 
made in the cavity of the mouth, say all parts of the vocal 
tube above the epiglottis. It is supposed that, by appro- 
priate changes in these parts, the resonance of the mouth 
re-enforces the tone peculiar to the required vowel. The 
following references to what has been done and said by 
prominent investigators will make the views now held as 
to the formation of the vowel sounds more clear. In the 
3’ear 1799 the Boval Academy of St. Petersburg made the 
vowel qualities a prize question. Kratzenstein submitted a 
memoir and also showed how the vowels could be produced 
by artificial mechanism, and the prize was awarded to him. 
Yon Kempelen,of Vienna, made similar and more elaborate 
experiments. These scientists stated that the tones of the 
larynx were changed into vowel sounds by alterations in 
the size of the oral opening, and the oral canal, that is the 
aperture between the lips and between the tongue and pal- 
ate. Mr. John Bishop in his work “On Articulate Sounds 
and on the Causes and Cure of Impediments of Speech,’' 
London 1851, page 17, says: “ Vowels have been divided 
into three classes, having reference to the organs employed 
in their production, namely, guttural, palatal, and labial,” 
and he endorses these views by explaining how the organs 
act, and brings in prominently certain vibrations of the 
lining menbranes of the parts which he considers to be 
specially active; in the gutturals, the membranes of the 
fauces, pharynx and soft palate ; in the palatals, those of 
the dorsum of the tongue, and of the hard palate; in the 
labials, the vibrations in the lips and cheeks. This author 
also thinks that the change from the sound of o, as in bone, 
to oo as in boot, is entirely due to the closer and more pro- 
jecting position of the lips, and he states distinctly that 
certain positions of the organs above the epiglottis are indis- 3 
pensable to articulate speech. He thinks that the vowel 
quality pulsations may be produced by either the air in the 
mouth, pharynx, and nostrils, or by the membranes of these 
parts ; the first, being perhaps, the opinion of Dr. Thomas 
Young, the last, probably, more according to M. Savart. 
Mr. Bishop does not state clearly that he inclines to one 
view more than the other, but evidently thinks the vowel 
qualities originate in part from both sources. 
Professor Tyndall, explaining the nature of the vowel 
sounds in his fifth Lecture on Sound, at the Royal Institu- 
tion of Great Britain, published in New York. 1867, says : 
“ We can distinguish one vowel sound from another while 
assigning to both the same pitch and intensity.” * * * 
“Now, in the vocal organ of man, you have your reed in 
the vocal chords, and associated with this reed you have the 
resonant cavity of the mouth, which can so alter its shape 
as to resound, at will, either to the fundamental tone of the 
vocal chords or to any of their overtones. Through the 
agency of the mouth, we can mix together the fundamental 
tone and the overtones of the voice in different proportions, 
and the different vowel sounds are due to different admix- 
tures of this kind.” Professor Tyndall then selects a tuning 
fork of a suitable pitch for the required sound, and adjusts 
his mouth until it resounds to the fork, and then urges air 
through the larynx, when the particular vowel sound is 
heard and no other. In this way lie decides that it requires 
the first, second, third, fourth, fifth and seventh tones to form 
all the different vowel sounds, upon the same fundamental 
tone of the vocal chords, and the precise tone or tones re- 
enforced by tiie mouth for the particular sounds are for P 
(<oo in hoop,) 1st or fundamental; O, 2d ; A, 3d strong, 
2d moderate, 4th and 5th weak ; E, 1st weak, 2d compara- 
tively strong, 3d feeble, 4th intense; Ah! 3d feeble, the 
higher tones especially, 5th and 7th strong. Upon this 
theory the month re-euforces tones ranging in pitch through 
three octaves less one tone to form the vowel sounds of 
speech on the same fundamental tone of the vocal chords 4 
ar.d this rar'jc ot the mouth’s re-enforcement must be in- 
crease':] m proportion to the range in the pitch of the tones 
ot the v. on1 chords. 
Mao’ i.e Emma Seiler’s views upon the formation of the 
vowel qualities are of great importance, from the fact that 
she was associated with Prof. Helmholtz in his experiments 
to ascertain the nature of these sounds. In the translation 
of her work, “ The Voice in Singing,” Philadelphia, 1870, 
she explains the nature of the vowel qualities, as explained 
by Prof. Helmholtz, and as just now given in the quota- 
tions taken from Prof. Tyndall’s lecture. Madame Seiler, 
however, on page 96, says : “ But certain vowels, in certain 
parts of the scale, can be sung far more easily and sweetly 
than others. The investigation of this fact has taught us 
that a tone gains in richness when the tone corresponding 
to the vowel belongs to the overtones of the fundamental 
tone.” This seems to indicate that Madame Seiler consid- 
ers that the vowel quality is given to the fundamental tones 
in a fixed range of pitch, and that it does not rise and fall 
with the pitch of the tones from the vocal chords, as Prof. 
Tyndall seems to intimate. Mine. Seiler’s work shows un- 
common acuteness and familiarity with the subject. She 
says : The female voice has only a few tones more than 
an octave upon which every one of the vowels can he dis- 
tinctly sung;” and on page 114, that “ The length of the 
cavity of the mouth is the greatest in sounding oo, the least 
in e, intermediate in a.” ‘In the pure, clear a, as in may, 
the cavity is the narrowest.’ 
It is difficult to discover any practical difference between 
Prof. Tyndall’s and Mine. Seiler’s views, and those of Mr. 
Bishop, upon the action of the organs in forming the vowel 
sounds of speech. They, however, seem to think, that the 
vowel qualities originate in the general resonance of the 
mouth, rather than in the vibrations in the membranes of 
any particular part of it. Many have written upon the 
vowel sounds of speech, but it is difficult to find in the wri- 
tings of anv one author, all that is necessary to irive a com- 5 
prehensive view of what is now believed in regard to them. 
This arises not so much from any material difference in the 
views held, as in the special subjects, upon which the wri- 
ters were engaged. I have, therefore, selected from those 
whose writings collectively seen) to embrace what will give 
an easy and sufficiently full idea of what is held respecting 
them. Mr. Bishop writes upon speech and its impediments ; 
Prof. Tyndall, more upon the strictly acoustic bearings of 
the subject ; Mine. Seiler, more upon the voice in singing. 
Mr. Bishop describes minutely how the consonants are 
formed, and the positions taken by the organs of speech in 
doing this, have an important bearing upon the subject mat- 
ter of this paper ; for the consonants are associated with 
vowels in the formation of words, and they have also their 
own special sounds readily distinguished, while the move- 
ments and positions necessary to their production are easily 
demonstrated. 
I propose to show briefly some of the movements made in 
forming the consonants, and the probable effect of these 
upon the vowel sounds, if these last also originated in the 
mouth, but first giving a description of the parts used in 
speech above the epiglottis. 
The lower jaw which protects the tongue, larynx and 
trachea, also gives attachment to muscles which control them 
in the performance cf their functions. Its co-operation in 
these functions is effected principally by the temporal and 
the external pterygoid muscles, the first pulling the upper 
part ot the ascending ramus backward, and the last drawing 
it forward. This shuts or opens the teeth and regulates the 
position of the lower jaw. Thus the digastric and other 
muscles attached to the body of the jaw, and to the hyoid 
bone, have a base of action, and without this, vocalization 
and articulation would be impossible. This will be more 
clearly understood by recollecting that with the teeth closed, 
the stylo maxillary ligament slants down to the angle of 
the jaw; therefore, while the temporal muscle relaxes to 
allow the external pterygoid muscle to draw the condyle 6 
forward under the eminentia aHicularis, the angle is, at 
the same time, carried back by the ligament, into the per- 
pendicular of its attachment on the styloid process. This 
allows the jaw to go down bodily, as well as open in front, 
by which the back teeth of the upper and lower jaws are 
widely separated, and the size of the oral cavity much en- 
larged. The nose, with the nostrils through which the air 
passes to and from the pharynx at the back of the mouth 
cavity, and the upper and lower lips, with the separation 
between them, which gives passage to and from the front of 
■the mouth, are well known. The nose can vary the size 
and position of its anterior openings to a limited extent, but 
as a whole moves only with the head. The upper lip moves 
less on its attachment than the lower, this last moving freely 
with the lower jaw to the full extent to which this bone can 
carry it. These movements are much less in some persons 
than in others. The cheeks have also a varied amount of 
mobility, but yield readily to all the movements of the 
lower jaw. Each cheek is well controlled by a thin broad 
muscle, the buccinator, which arises from the alveolar pro- 
cess on each jaw, continues forward into both upper and 
lower lips, and backward on to the ptervgo-maxillary lig- 
ament, from whence on each side, the superior constrictor, 
a similar muscle, curves back to the centre of the pharynx. 
These four muscles lie just under the mucous membrane, 
which covers the inside of the cheeks, and ail the parts 
within the mouth, except the teeth, continues up into the 
nose, and through the larynx into the lungs. The teeth 
which stand around within the lips and cheeks, are in the 
complete temporary set, twenty in number, and should be 
all in the mouth at three years of age. By six, the jaws 
have enlarged behind the last infant teeth, for the first per- 
manent molars ; by twelve, for the second ; and by eighteen, 
the third permanent molars are generally present. Then 
the permanent teeth, thirty-two in number, should all be in 
the mouth, the cavity of which then averages four or five 
times larger than at the age of three. Its capacity ranges 7 
in the adult from two to four fluid ounces, males having the 
larger. Through early loss of teeth and other causes, the 
adult mouth has, in rare cases, less than two ounces capacity. 
I have never found one which could take in over four ounces 
of water without swallowing some. The separation between 
the lips varies much in size compared with the cavity within., 
and the hard palate, which forms the roof of the mouth, is 
singularly unlike in size and shape in different persons. 
The soft palate which extends backward from the hard pal- 
ate, is complicated in its movements and requires close at- 
tention. It can he seen curving downward and showing in. 
its centre the uvula which hangs below its back border. 
The uvula is the centre of two distinct arches, formed by 
two pairs of muscles, which are separated below by the ton- 
sils. The posterior arch is smaller than the anterior, and 
therefore, also well separated from it above. It is formed 
by the potato pkaryngei muscles, which by their anterior 
fibres go down and are inserted into the thyroid cartilage, 
while the others pass around the sides of the pharynx and 
some cross each other behind. The anterior arch is formed 
by the polato-glossi muscles, which are inserted into the 
tongue. The uvula is itself the insertion of a pair of 
small muscles, which pass back from the centre of the hard 
palate ; while the levator-pdlati muscle comes forward and 
downward over the edge of the superior constrictor on each 
side, and spreads out in the upper surface of the soft palate. 
This pair are the antagonists of those which pass to the 
uvula from the hard palate. The tensor palati ot each side 
controls the tension of the soft palate. The form of the hard 
palate is such, that the tongue can close up against the edge 
around the inside of the upper teeth, while the back part 
of the tongue is so shaped, that it tits the uvula and soft 
palate exactly, and this closure can be made readily at the 
same time that the upper and back part of the soft palate 
also closes the posterior nares. 
The tongue at rest lies with its point within the lower 
front teeth, rising gradually to its centre, where it curves 8 
suddenly down to its connection with the epiglottis, which 
tits up against it. Just below this the hyoid bone gives 
support to the tongue, and passes back around on each side, 
giving attachment by its upper and inner border, to a broad 
tibro-elastic membrane, which is also attached below around 
the upper border of the thyroid cartilage. From the back 
end of the hyoid bone on each side, a round elastic ligament 
also goes to the superior cornu of the cartilage. These at- 
tachments allow considerable movement between the hyoid 
bone and tbe thyroid cartilage. The tongue, above.and in 
front of these, has singular mobility. Its point can be put 
out through the lips, up behind the teeth, against the gum, 
or drawn back in the mouth ; it can also be turned down 
in front, below the back of the inferior incisors, while the 
centre goes up close into the roof of the month, and the 
part near the epiglottis is drawn so far forward, that the 
end of the linger may be platted between them, and this 
with the epiglottis up, and also pulled forward with the 
tongue. The tongue also, while fixed in the roof, can be 
drawn forward at its base so much that the epiglottis going 
forward with this part, is entirely protected by the tongue 
above it, as in swallowing. Other positions of the tongue 
are so easily seen, as not to require explanation here. 
It is not surprising, with this wonderful flexibility of the 
tongue, and the complexity of the parts associated with it 
in speech, that even such a competent surgeon and so pre- 
cise an observer as Mr. Bishop, should consider that the 
vowel sounds were formed in the month, and it requires 
close attention to arrive at a conviction that they are not. 
It must be borne in mind that all words, whether in speech 
or song, without m or n in combination, are uttered with 
the soft palate drawn up so as to shut off the nose. This is 
easily proved by holding the nose shut with thumb and fin- 
ger, when after sounding any letter of the alphabet other 
than rn or n, the opening of the soft palate will be heard 
and felt. It comes down sooner in some sounds than in 
others. In singing low tones, as seen in the mouth, it ap- 9 
pears to be open, but this is so only in its lower border, and 
in sounding low' tones, with the nose closed, it takes much 
longer to open than in high tones, in which the velum is 
drawn up tight, and the tension of the parts then opens it 
quickly. The velum is drawn up back by the levators, 
which enter the palate above. The small muscles between 
the spine of the hard palate and uvula, draw the velum 
down in a curve to fit the tongue, and if the finger is laid 
upon the tongue so as to press it down where the uvula 
strikes it in swallowing, or in sounding the guttural conso- 
nant k, the uvula, if short, will come forward and its back 
lay upon the finger ; while the tongue and velum are in 
contact to sound k or g hard, and kept so, the nose can be 
opened instead of sounding either letter and the sudden cur- 
rent of air will prove that it was firmly closed behind, and 
this closure is complete even with the larynx prepared to 
sound the lowest tones of the voice. This isolation of the 
nose, except in sounds of m and n, makes it unnecessary to 
give any special attention to the resonance of its cavity. 
Mr. Bishop defines the guttural consonants to be o and g 
hard, k, q, ch, gh, and says : “ The vowel sounds pronounced 
in ball, bar, bat, but, are guttural.” 
He says t, d, are lingua-palatal consonants, and the vowels 
in bate, bet, beat, bit, palatal. 
He says b,p, are labial consonants, and the vowel sounds 
in bone and boot, labial. 
These different sounds are formed upon a tone origina- 
ted by the vibration of the vocal chords, this tone not being 
at all altered in pitch, but only so that the vowel quality is 
given to it, and so far as the consonants as used in speech, 
are more than the nfere beginning or ending of a syllable 
or word, they consist of some vowel sound, and this, 
although slight, is readily distinguished, for t or k, in com- 
bination with the same vowel are not confounded, although 
both are formed-out of sight. 
Now, if the consonants and vowels, classed as guttural, 
were sounded only with each other, it would be easier to 10 
believe in Mr. Bishop’s theory ; hut the guttural consonants 
are used quite as well with the palatal and labial vowels, 
and the labial and other consonants are also used with all 
the vowels. In fact, while any consonant is used with any 
vowel, consonants of the different classes are used with the 
same vowel, or the same vowel sound, in syllables and 
words having one continuous vowel sound. For instance, 
in sounding cop, there is no alteration of the vowel sound, 
but on Mr. Bishop’s theory, cop could not be sounded at 
all, for in passing to form the it would end as coop ; 
the word cob, would be co-oob as the lower lip closed to form b. 
I have thus far confined myself to o and oo, as Mr. B. 
says the transition from one to the other is entirely due to 
the change in the state of the lips. Now, if it be said, that 
state of the lips may be more than position, that it may 
also include vibration—take the word cove. Here the lip 
in closing up to form the v, also vibrates, but although it 
goes up past the position for oo and then rests in it, the word 
gives no sound of 00 whatever. It is clear therefore, that 
something more than position, or state of the lips, is needed 
to make the difference between o and 00. 
These examples could be multiplied, but without advan- 
tage. We know how and where the consonants are formed, 
and in the transitions from one to the other, it is impossible 
that a pure vowel sound could continue unchanged, were 
they formed in close proximity, indeed in the mouth at all. 
Mr. Bishop himself says: ‘‘Diphthongs are not merely sounds 
resulting from the combination of two simple vowels fol- 
lowing each other in rapid succession, but are also in part 
the effect of the movements of the articulating organs on 
the vowel sounds, during the transition of these organs from 
the position of the first vowel to that of the second.” Now 
if the vowel sounds originated in the mouth, during transi- 
tion of the organs to form different consonants, the contin- 
ued vowel sound between them would be- altered. With 
these movements it is impossible that vibration of the parts 
designated can add the vowel quality to the fundamental 11 
tone of the voice, and also hold the vowel sound steady and 
pure. Further, the vowel sound may be formed well, al- 
though the fingers are against the teeth in place of the lips, 
and also in cases of congenital cleft palate, where not only 
the soft but the hard palate, and even the upper lip is defi- 
cient Of course in these cases the sound is more or less 
nasal. But this is remedied by a plate of hard rubber, 
which covers the whole of the roof of the mouth, passes up 
above the remnants of the soft palate, fills up all across, and 
ends in the pharynx opposite the tubercle of the atlas. By 
this, vibrations of the hard and soft palate and nearly the 
whole of the pharynx are cut off, but the vowel sounds are 
perfect, and the consonants so far, that the imperfect condi- 
tion of the palate is not suspected ; and there can be no vi- 
bration whatever in the hard rubber. The vowels are per- 
fect when all the gum of both jaws, and the root of the 
mouth are covered with plates holding artificial teeth, the 
plates being of hard rubber, metal, or porcelain, and vibra- 
tions in, or beneath them impossible. Nor is the vibration, 
nor in fact the presence of the tongue indispensable; tor the 
records are indisputable which show that the loss of the 
tongue is not followed by loss of speech, and that the vowJ 
sounds are articulated perfectly with the tongue cut oft 
nearly against the epiglottis. 
It is necessary to consider carefully, at this point, what 
this change of tone to vowel sound is in acoustic quality, or 
value. This is not definitely settled. Mr. Willis,'' quoted 
largely by Mr. Bishop, and referred to by Prof. Tyndall, 
makes the difference in pitch between the vowel quality in 
ee, as in see, and o, as in no, to be three octaves and a fifth 
{(/"" to d') marking that, in the lowest vowel sound oo, as in 
hoot, indefinite. This would make a difference of, say, tour 
octaves between the highest and lowest vowel quality. He 
used a reed which sounded the same fundamental, and the 
pipe which surmounted the reed and resounded to it, had 
* Cambridge Philosophical Transactions, Yol. iii. 1829. 12 
always the same outlet, but was varied in length to make it 
yield the vowels, the length for ee being .38 of an inch, and 
for o, 4.7 inches,—over twelve times longer. This difference 
in the depth of the resonant cavity would be increased to 
sixteen times for oo, the lowest vowel quality7, if this vowel 
sound were just four octaves below ee,—the intermediate 
vowels being obtained between these extremes. 
Prof. Helmholtz gives a scale of four octaves less a tone 
and a half, in which the overtones of the vowels as pro- 
nounced in the north of Germany are particularly strong. 
Hr. C. L. Merkel, of Leipzig, gives a range of three oc- 
taves, less two and a halftones, to the pitches of the vowels, 
according to his own habits of speech. 
Prof. Tyndall says it requires three octaves less one tone 
to form the vowel sounds upon the same fundamental, and 
this range must be increased as far as the tones of the vocal 
chords range. Now the range of the voice in speaking and 
singing, being, say, two octaves, full two-thirds of this range 
of the fundamental tones, and their overtones should be so 
re-enforced by the mouth as to form perfect vowel sounds. 
To do this, every mouth must alter so as to augment tones 
ranging through four octaves and a third; and as the male 
voice is an octave lower than the female, the range of tones 
necessary to be re-enforced by the mouth in both sexes is 
over five octaves. For the purpose of this paper, however, 
it is not important that the scale of the vowel qualities 
should be precisely known. 
In the mechanism used by Mr. Willis, to find the acoustic 
values of the vowel qualities, the pipe was necessarily greatly 
varied in length. This presents, at once, an insurmountable 
objection to the theory that the vowel qualities of speech 
originate in the cavity of the mouth, which has little capa- 
bility of altering its length. In other respects, however, the 
acoustic possibilities of the mouth, are not so easily settled, 
or the matter would have been decided long ago. 
In Willis’ experiment we see that the resonant cavity of 
the pipe is longer, compared with its outlet, in propor- 13 
tion to the gravity of the tone, and shorter as the tone be- 
comes acute. It may, therefore, be thought that the equiva- 
lent of this change in the resonant cavity, would be found 
by varying the size of the outlet, the cavity remaining the 
same. My own experiments show, however, that in a glass 
bottle having a mouth about one inch in diameter, partly 
filled with water, leaving a space of four and a quarter fluid 
ounces capacity, the cavity resounded to d'\ with the month 
half closed, V flat; while#1', only two tones and a half below 
<■", would not resound at any closure. 
To show the effect of lessening the resonant cavity, while 
retaining the same opening, ounces of space gave d'\ 2£, 
</'; 1-|, d". This ounces of space is about the capacity of 
a large adult mouth, yet this space reduced more than one 
halt, by pouring in water, resounded to a pitch only four 
tones, or two-thirds of an octave higher. This arose from 
the water not filling up half the length of air space, as the 
bottle was wider below than at its neck. In a straight tube 
to fill half the space, would halve the length, and the empty 
part would resound to an octave higher. 
Four straight jars without necks, their capacities being 
respectively 2f, and 9 fluid ounces, covered with the 
same sheet of gutta-percha, with an opening in the centre 
about the shape and size of a small mouth, the opening, 
that is, between the lips responded to d". y", d', V flat. This 
is a difference of only one whole tone more than an octave, 
between the largest and smallest jars, and yet the large jar 
was three inches deep—just twice the depth of the small one, 
and six times its capacity. The three smallest jars differ 
in size far more than any cavity of the mouth, from any 
possible alteration made by the tongue in speech ; yet their 
whole range of pitch w-as but four tones, and even this was 
caused by the difference in their depth of air cavity, which 
was far greater in any two of them than is possible to the 
cavity of any one mouth in speech. 
Length, or depth, has more influence on pitch, than mere 
size of cavity, yet a proportionate size is also necessary ; for 14 
a wide mouthed bottle tilled with water to three inches from 
the top, and resounding toe", on being laid down so far that 
the water came just to the edge of the mouth, by which the 
space was doubled in length, but still the same in size, re- 
sounded to only one tone lower, not the octave lower, as it 
would had the space been doubled in size, as well as in length, 
instead of tapering. Again a straight tube, with space four 
inches deep, and of fluid ounces capacity, resounded to 
e" ; and on laying it down as above, to c", two tones lower. 
These resonant cavities were respectively three and four 
inches deep, while the mouths of adults, between the back 
of the pharynx, and the closing ridge of the lips, generally 
range from three and a quarter, to three and three-quarter 
inches, rarely being as short as three or as long as four. 
By these tests of mere resonance made, like Prof. Tyn- 
dall’s, at the outlet of the cavity it is seen that altering the 
size of the outlet affords but a very limited range in the pitch 
of the tone ; further that a cavity of a certain size, doubledin 
length, bat without increased capacity, varies only a little in 
its tone or key note, and finally that changing the size of 
the resonant cavity without proportionate increase of length 
in one direction, has also but little effect on pitch. The 
mouth has only the most limited power to lengthen its cav- 
ity, and this is confined to the lips, for the constrictor mus- 
cles which give form to the sides and back of the pharynx, 
are firmly held in the centre behind. These experiments 
show therefore that the human mouth cannot form the 
vowel qualities, by altering its outlet between the lips, its 
shape, or its capacity. 
The remarks previously made as to the effect of cleft pal- 
ate, and imperfect lips, loss of the tongue, and other ac- 
quired injuries, are equally pertinent here; for any one of 
them would prevent the resonance of the mouth from form- 
ing the vowel qualities; and as the vowels are compara- 
tively perfect in such cases, it is clear that they originate 
elsewhere. In fact, if they did not, speech would be im- 
possible, for the changes in the organs to form even the 15 
consonants, would prevent a continuous and pure vowel 
sound in any syllable into which they entered, if the reso- 
nance of the mouth had any considerable iniluence. 
Further, the changes in position of the organs, as seen in 
singing, show plainly that they act in subordination to the 
general pitch of the voice as a whole, and not for the addi- 
tion of the vowel qualities. In high tones the mouth opens 
wide ; in low tones the lips are comparatively close; while 
the soft palate is high and tense in acute tones, but low and 
loose in grave tones; and these great changes, so plainly 
seen, are made to enable the mouth to transmit the tones 
of the larynx, which with all its special parts for forming 
the voice, and varying its pitch, gives less than two octaves 
range to the average of voices, as used in singing, or far 
less than the range of pitch necessary in the vowel qualities, 
to form the vowel sounds of any one person. 
It is thus clearly seen that the mouth is supplied with 
the vowel sounds already formed upon the tones of the lar- 
ynx. I purpose to show now, that the addition of the 
vowel qualities to the tones of the vocal chords is made in 
the upper cavity of the larynx. This cavity is bounded 
below by the true vocal chords, which pass back in the thy- 
roid cartilage from their attachment on each side of the 
centre, corresponding to the vertical ridge so prominent and 
easily seen in the male larynx in front of the throat. The 
vocal chords are attached in the inside, a little above the 
small membrane felt as a notch in the fiont of the neck, at 
the inferior border of the thyroid cartilage. The false vocal 
chords are close above; and, higher still, at the inside of 
the extreme point knowTn as the pomum Adami, the liga- 
ment of the epiglottis is attached. From this point, the upper 
edge of each side of the cartilage may be felt, curving up- 
ward and backward, and if the linger is laid on the mem- 
brane between, the body of the hyoid bone will be felt 
above, as a hard round projection in the soft parts within 
the lower jaw. The support given by this bone to the lar- 
ynx by means of this membrane, which passes down around 16 
to the upper border of the thyroid cartilage, has been before 
spoken of. The epiglottis passes up from its ligamentous 
attachment to the thyroid cartilage, and is attached by an 
elastic ligament to the inside or posterior surface of the body 
of the hyoid bone, after which it emerges at the back of the 
tongue, as a broad elastic cover to the superior aperture of the 
larynx. The tongue, as before stated, commences at, and 
rests upon the top of the hyoid bone. This bone, however, 
is not the only connection between the tongue and epiglot- 
tis, as three folds of mucous membrane also link them to- 
gether in the mouth. The point of the thyroid cartilage in 
front of the throat, known as the jmnvm Adami, is some 
distance below the hyoid bone, but in swallowing it may be 
felt to rise up close to the bone, and then go forward with 
it toward the inside of the chin. % This is the highest posi- 
tion which the cartilage can reach, and, by following it with 
the finger, we feel that the upper cavity of the larynx is 
subjected to great changes in shape and capacity. During 
the act of swallowing it may be noticed also, that the tongue 
is fixed in the roof of the mouth, and the hyoid bone, there- 
fore, in going forward, draws the larynx, epiglottis and 
base of the tongue under the part above. By this, the epi- 
glottis, which is usually upright, is carried down backward 
over the superior aperture of the larynx, which is thus 
closed, and well protected while food passes down behind. 
With the finger upon the thyroid cartilage, it may be felt 
that its sides widen rapidly from the jTomum Adami in front, 
and, as the vertical ridge in front recedes down to the lower 
border, and the upper borders of the thyroid cartilage, with 
the membrane between, (which, with the attachment of the 
epiglottis extend up to the hyoid bone,) also recede, it follows 
that the inner surfaces of the front of the upper cavity of 
the larynx, converge to the inside of the point of tliepomum 
Adami. The upper surface, however, along the course of 
the epiglottis, and the aperture, as well, which the latter 
modifies, vary considerably in deglutition, vocalization and 
articulation. In movements of the tongue outside of these 17 
functions, the hyoid bone, although supporting the tongue, 
changes but little in relative position to the thyroid cartilage, 
and in mere movements of the jaw to open the mouth, the 
hyoid bone, and the thyroid cartilage are virtually motion- 
less. Consideration of these statements of the movements in 
deglutition will assist in discriminating between them, and 
those of vocalization and articulation yet to be considered. 
If the arm is laid upon the breast, with the forefinger 
resting on the membrane between the superior borders of 
the thyroid cartilage, and its end against the li37oid bone, 
while the second finger and thumb lay hold of the cartilage 
below thq jpomum Adarai, any movement in these parts will 
be distinctly felt. The hand may be steadied equally bjr 
resting the knuckle of the forefinger against the chin above. 
Allowance must be made in the latter position for move- 
ments of the jaw in opening the mouth, and in the former 
for movements of the breast in breathing. 
The opinion is generally entertained that the larynx rises 
and falls with the pitch of the tone; that is, that it rises in 
singing from the lowest tone of the voice, through the whole 
scale, up to the highest, and falls with the tones in descend- 
ing the scale. This error has no doubt arisen from the fact 
that, in a few of the lowest notes, the larynx falls, and in a 
few of the highest it rises ; and the custom of using certain 
consonants in connection with different, vowel sounds in vo- 
cal exercises has, by complicating the action of the parts, 
made the discovery of the truth a matter of extreme diffi- 
culty. But by singing up and down, through the scale of 
the voice, and using only one vowel sound, without a conso- 
nant, it will be found that there is an octave or more in the 
scale, in which the larynx neither falls nor rises, and that its 
movements down and up are all below and above that part 
of the scale; and fliis part of the scale is that in which we 
usually speak ; and it will differ in pitch according to the 
voice. 
Now, with the fingers and thumb upon the larynx, while 
sounding the different vowels upon any one tone within the 18 
speaking scale, whether in speaking or singing voice, it will 
be found that the relative positions of the hyoid bone and 
larynx change with every alteration of the vowel sound. In 
using the vowel sounds, a, e, i, o, u, pronounced ah, a, ee, 
o, oo, the larynx rises but little in ah ; more in a, in which 
the hyoid bone also moves toward the chin ; but in ee the 
thyroid cartilage is drawn up very close to the hyoid bone, 
which last is also drawn much nearer to the chin than in a ; 
in sounding o, the larynx does not rise at all, but the mem- 
brane between it and the hyoid bone tightens, the bone 
descends some, and goes forward ; in oo, the larynx rises 
much, the membrane is very tight, and the bone drawn 
forcibly forward. The English vowels can be formed only 
by different positions of the hyoid bone and larynx rela- 
tively to each other, and this is true of every possible modi- 
fication of vowel sounds, and even in the whispering voice. 
By sounding ary one consonant with the different vowels, 
and making allowance for the movement of the hyoid bone 
in carrying the tongue up, as in k, or t, it may be felt that 
the same relative changes are made for each particular vowel 
sound as without any consonant. In fact, this is so in all 
cases, whether initial or terminal consonants are used, and 
under any circumstances in which vocal tone is heard, for 
no tone is uttered except with some modification of vowel 
quality. Not only the nasals, and others, termed semi-vow- 
els, but even the consonants except in their beginning or 
ending, and when initial or terminal (in which cases the 
contact of the parts above the epiglottis gives them distinc- 
tive characters,) except also, perhaps, in their sibilation and 
buzzing, are, as shown by the movemements in the hyoid 
bone, thyroid cartilage, and the membrane between them, 
vowel sounds, derived from the larynx. 
In analyzing these movements, a striking resemblance in 
them is discovered in forming the highest and lowest vowel 
sounds. These are i, (sounded as ee in eel,) and u, (oo as 
in boot.) The difference is, that in the first, the hyoid bone 
and the thyroid cartilage are a little closer together, and the 19 
membrane perhaps rather tighter than in the other, while the 
hyoid bone is a little lower in u. In both, the hyoid bone 
is forcibly drawn toward the chin, with no perceptible differ- 
ence, unless it be more forward in u. These vowels there- 
fore afford the best opportunity for judging how the cavity 
of the mouth, and the organs within it, affect the tones of 
the vocal chords, and the sounds which pass the epiglottis; 
for the special qualities of these vowels are certainly the two 
extremes in pitch, not only according to Helmholtz, Merkel, 
Donders, and others, but as proved by Mr. Willis, whose 
opinions are entitled to the highest consideration. I shall 
therefore, in explaining the movements within the mouth 
and their effects, use the vowels according to the pitch of 
their special acoustic qualities. This will place them in the 
following order: i, e, a, o, u. 
The lips, so prominently seen in speech, and which, like 
all the parts within the month, contribute to its perfect ut- 
terance, do not give any portion of the vowel quality to any 
vowel, except so far as they may be considered to do so by 
appropriately changing to give the vocal sound as a whole, 
a suitable outlet. In speaking the lower lip is specially ac- 
tive in movements appropriate to the labial consonants; 
but good vowels may be uttered while the lips are held wide 
apart, and in singing perfect vowels are heard while the lips 
are held far apart to give a proper quality, and outlet to the 
higher tones. Neither the cheeks, by their lining membrane 
and muscles; nor the muscles and the membrane which ex- 
tend back to the centre of the pharynx, and control the size 
of the oral cavity, so far as proper tension can effect it, 
( although both, therefore, exert important influence upon 
each tone as a whole,) nor the tonsils which vary so much in 
size, contribute anything to the vowel qualities. The soft 
palate is important* to the vowel sounds only in closing the 
entrance to the nose with suitable tension. The hard palate, 
and the gum and teeth of both jaws are important for their 
influence on, and their transmission of the voice as a whole; 
but all these are so different in different persons, and in the 20 
same individual at different times, that if the vowel sounds 
depended upon them for their special characters, speech 
could rarely be perfect, and would be at best so insecure, 
and so often lost, as to be of no general use. The vowel 
sounds may be perfectly and easily formed, even when the 
ruga on the upper gum, extending up toward the roof of 
the mouth, are covered with a hard plate which presents a 
smooth polished surface to the tongue. The flexibility of 
the tongue, and its activity in speech, are so great that it is 
extremely difficult to define strictly what it does, and what 
it does not do, in articulation. It has been already shown 
that, after its loss, the vowels are perfectly enunciated, but 
the fact remains that the tongue when present, and in good 
condition, moves actively in the changes from one vowel 
sound to another, not only in speaking and whispering, but 
also in singing. In speaking and whispering the vowel i 
(ee,) the point of the tongue is down against the gum and 
inside of the lower front teeth, its centre rounding nearly 
up to the front of the hard palate. Nowt, if the finger is 
pushed up over the tongue, and curved suddenly down, it 
will be found that the tongue is pulled forward extremely 
at the centre of its base, but curving back on each side, 
while the epiglottis which is also drawn forward, leaving the 
aperture of the larynx wide open, is so far from the tongue 
that the end of the finger can go dovn between them. In 
e (a,) the tongue is lower in its centre, leaving a larger 
opening above, its base with the epiglottis being further back 
than in i, while they are also closer together. In a (ah,) 
the tongue is higher behind, its base further back, and close 
against the epiglottis, and both, also, nearer the back of the 
pharynx. 
In o, the tongue is still higher behind, while its base with 
the epiglottis is so far back that the finger in examination 
presses the pharynx so much that it is difficult to bear. In 
n (oo,) these positions of the tongue up back, and down 
against the epiglottis, are so extreme that prolonged exami- 
nation with the finger is unendurable. In singing the two 21 
higher vowels i and e, the tongue is not so close to the front 
of the hard palate, as in speaking them ; in singing the three 
lower vowels, the tongue is about as near to the back of the 
palate as in speaking and whispering. The tongue does not 
seem to alter its position, in singing, between high and low 
tones, except in the notes above and helow the speaking scale 
of the voice 
In these movements to form the vowels, the parts above 
the epiglottis are so arranged that brief explanation will 
clearly show that they do nut act for the addition of the 
vowel qualities to the tones of the vocal chords, to any con- 
siderable extent, except in assisting to have this addition 
made below the epiglottis, or at the aperture of the larynx 
which it modifies. In sounding i (ee,) the cavity of the 
mouth is larger, compared with the outlet between the 
tongue and the front of the hard palate, than in the other 
vowels, whose overtones are lower. This, as shown pre- 
viously, is contrary to the acoustic law which governs res- 
onance, which is, that to exalt or strengthen acute tones, 
the resonant cavity must be smaller in proportion to its 
outlet, than in grave tones. The same inconsistency exists 
as to the other vowels, for the examination of the parts 
within the month, which I have before made, proves‘that 
the positions taken by the tongue, within the cavity of the 
mouth, during the utterance of the other vowels, make die 
outlet between the palate just behind the upper front teeth 
and the tongue below it, larger, and the cavity within, 
smaller, as the overtones which characterize the vowels 
lower in pitch. This shows that the cavity of the mouth, 
with the tongue and other parts within, do not act to add 
the vowel qualities to the tones of the vocal chords, during 
their passage through the month. The movements of the 
tongue, however, in assisting and complementing the epi- 
glottis, show that it acts, in strict accordance with acoustic- 
law, in concert with the epiglottis, to form the vowel 
qualities before their entrance into the cavity of the mouth 
for, in the vowel i (ee,) the epiglottis is drawn so far forward 22 
that the resounding portion of the upper cavity of the 
larynx is shortened, and the aperture very widely opened, 
and, as the vowels, which are qualified by the re-enforce- 
ment of the graver overtones of the vocal chords, are sounded 
the epiglottis, by going back, and shutting down, not only 
increases the length of the upper cavity of the larynx, but 
also lessens the size of its outlet. In these movements it 
acts in concert with the hyoid bone and thyroid cartilage, 
previously explained, and it was seen that they are drawn 
forcibly forward in i (ee,) and in u (oo,) and these vowels 
include the two extremes of the vowel qualities. 
By this co operation a short resonant cavity, with a large 
and clear outlet, is gained to re-enforce the high overtones of 
i (ee,) and a long cavity with small outlet is produced, open- 
ing nearly against the Lack of the pharynx to do the same 
for the low tone of u (oo.) 
Prof. Tyndall’s experiments with a tuning fork, held at 
the entrance of his mouth, are not only unreliable, but 
necessarily incorrect. The difficulty most apparent when 
the tuning fork is used, is to adjust the tongue, lips, &e., so 
that the cavity of the mouth will resound without their 
taking the true adjustment from life long habit. The vowel 
corresponding to the fork being known, this disposition of 
the vocal organs to assume the positions necessary for its 
production in speech becomes, in this experiment, almost if 
not quite unavoidable. He says that after adjusting the 
cavity of his mouth so that it resounds forcibly to the fork, 
he obtains the vowel sound without altering in the least the 
shape or size of his mouth. But it is a mistake to suppose 
that only the cavity of his mouth resounded, for the upper 
cavity of the larynx was in communication with it, and any 
resonance obtained included that of all the space down to 
the vocal chords. I adopted Prof. Tyndall’s own method of 
holding the fork at the outside or entrance to the resonant 
cavity, but used bottles, jars, and tubes in the experiments 
detailed above, to show that the vowel qualities are not 
formed in the mouth. But these fixed cavities, reliable as 23 
they are and useful for this purpose, do not, however, meet 
all the acoustic points involved in speech ; nor is this done 
even in Mr. Willis’ experiments with the reed and ad- 
justable pipe, although they are so free from any liability 
to error, that his results are demonstrations. But these ex- 
periments do involve principles having important bearings 
upon the whole matter. 
The human voice, formed by the vibrations of the vocal 
chords is, from its commencement in the larynx to its exit 
at the lips, subject to modification in and from the vocal tube. 
Although, as shown, the vowTel sounds do not originate in 
the mouth, this cavity and the organs within and around it 
do effect them, and it is because of this influence and modi- 
fication no doubt, that Mr. Bishop, Prof. Tvndall, and all 
who have treated of speech, have been misled as to their 
source. I purpose to show very briefly now how these parts 
exert their influence, and conform in their action to the 
demonstration already made that the larynx is the source of 
the vowel sounds. This will be done without leading the 
reader deeply into a consideration of cataphonics, the ex- 
amination of the acoustic features of speech not being the 
object of this paper. 
Examination of the movements of the tongue in sounding 
the vowels in the order or pitch of their special qualities 
shows that in the vowel a (all,) the tongue, like the thyroid 
cartilage, remains virtually still; that as the vowel qualities 
ascend in pitch, the tongue rises toward the front, and leaves 
a larger cavity behind; and that, on the contrary, as the 
vowel qualities descend in pitch, the tongue rises higher 
behind and enlarges the cavity in front. By these move- 
ments little change is made in the size of the mouth cavity ; 
the great alteration is, that in the vowels having the higher 
quality the resonant cavity of the mouth is shut in behind 
the tongue, while in those having the lower quality, the 
tongue rises'behind, and the resonant cavity is in front. 
The base of the tongue is seen to be close against the epi- 
glottis in a (ah.) This thin fibro-cartilaginous cover to the 24 
aperture of the larynx is thus steadied, and this assistance 
of the tongue is also given to the epiglottis in all the sounds 
whose vowel qualities are of lower pitch. In those vowels, 
on the other hand, whose overtones are higher than in a 
(ah,) tL6 tongue leaves the epiglottis free. B37 this the elas- 
ticity of the epiglottis, and its smooth inclined surfaces as- 
sist in forming the higher vowel qualities. In sounding i 
(ee,) it has been shown that the tongue while thus drawn 
forward at its base, also rises so abruptly that its centre is 
near the roof of the mouth, leaving only a very small out- 
let; and,'as the point of the tongue is at the same time 
down behind the lower front teeth, its rounded surface is 
close to the projecting and mobile ruyce, so prominent in 
the palate where it curves up backward from inside the up- 
per front teeth. By this the reflections from the uneven 
and mobile surfaces, restore the quality of the laryngeal 
sound, which would otherwise remain so effected by the large 
resonant cavity of the mouth, that it would not yield the 
pure sound of ee at the lips without extremp action of the 
parts entering into the formation of the upper cavity of the 
larynx. The lips are of less importance for ee than any 
other vowel. In hissing 01 sibilation, as heard in sounding 
s, the larynx merely rises with the hyoid bone to allow the 
tongue to reach the palate. It is seen that in the vowels 
whose qualities are low in pitch the tongue rises behind, 
and leaves the resonant cavit}T open in front. Thus in 
using the vowel u (oo,) in speech, especially in low tones, 
the lips are important to assist and give a proper outlet to 
the sound. When the lips are imperfect more change is 
necessary in the positions of the parts forming the upper 
cavity of the larynx. The change is easily detected by 
holding the fingers upon the front of the thyroid cartilage 
and sounding this vowel, first as it is usually spoken, and 
then with the lips widely opened. 
The lips usually make a somewhat rounder outlet for o, 
and oo, than for ee. It is also probable that the back of 
the tongue and the pharynx which it lies so high against in 25 
o and 00, conform their outlet for these vowels to that at 
the lips. In whispering the same changes are made by the 
organs above the interior vocal chords, as in speaking, but 
the expulsive power of the chest is weaker. In singing, 
however, the lips are frequently quite wide apart,* and in 
singing i (ee,) in addition to this, the tongue is never so 
near the roof of the mouth as in speaking, and yet within 
the medium scale ot the voice the vowel sounds are well 
formed. 
By these and former observations throughout this paper, 
it appears that the upper cavity of the larynx not only forms 
the vowel sounds in the first instance, but also continues to 
keep them perfect in the many different conditions and po- 
sitions of the lips, tongue, and other parts above the epi- 
glottis. I his is confirmed by using any vowel sound in 
connection with and followed by the nasals m or n. It will 
then be found that the vowel sound is enunciated perfectly, 
although associated with the buzzing consequent upon the 
\ ibration ot the nostrils, and also affected by the peculiar 
resonance ot the cavity itself. When the nasal m or n pre- 
cedes the vowel, the soft palate frequently shuts off the nose 
at the commencement of the vowel sound, which is. then 
heard through the lips only, and therefore free from any in- 
fluence of the nasal cavity or the nostrils. 
In the vowel sounds which pass through the nose the in- 
fluence of the lips, tongue and cavity of the mouth is very 
limited, but since the larynx is active the sounds are easily 
distinguished. 
It has been recently shown by Mme. Seiler that the fe- 
male voice has only a few tones more than an octave in 
which all the vowels can be distinctly sung, and it has been 
long known that the vowel u (oo in boot,) cannot be sounded 
by some soprano singers on the highest notes of the voice, 
even where i ( ee,) is possible. There is, therefore, a more 
limited range to the vowel sounds than to the tone of the 
voice. This is owing, no doubt, to the fact that in the high- 
est notes the hyoid bone is drawn so forcibly forward, and 26 
tlie membrane attached to it is made so tense, that no change 
can be made in its relation to the thyroid cartilage. The 
relative position of the hyoid bone is more forward for oo 
than ee, while the epiglottis is farther back in oo, and per- 
haps too near the back of the pharynx for the sound to es- 
cape. The limit of the power to form the vowel sounds ap- 
pears to be reached only with that of the ability to change 
tl'.e form of the upper cavity of the larynx. 
Up to this point the only reference made to the false vo- 
cal chords was the statement, after telling that the true 
chords, the originators of voice, were attached to the inside 
of the thyroid cartilage a little above the membrane felt as 
a notch in front of the neck, that “ the false vocal chords 
are close above.” The position and relation of these two 
pairs of vocal chords are very peculiar. The true or infe- 
rior chord passes back from the thyroid cartilage to the ex- 
treme end of the projecting point of the arytenoid cartilage, 
while the false or superior chord is attached above, on the 
receding front of the arytenoid cartilage. Between these 
chords, on each side of the larynx, the narrow slit, known 
as the ventricle, gives entrance at its anterior part to the 
membranous sac, situated between the superior vocal chord 
and the inner surface of the thyroid cartilage, and extend- 
ing up frequently to its superior border. The investigation 
into the physiological action of the larynx in voice, aided 
by the laryngoscope, first used for this purpose by Garcia in 
1855, and by others since then,—especially by Mine. Seiler 
when assisting Prof. Helmholtz in his investigation of the 
vowel tones and the registers of the female voice, as shown 
in her book, Philadelphia, 1870—have resulted in the opin- 
ion that tiie superior vocal chords exert little influence upon 
voice or speech. Researches, however, which left the move- 
ments of the upper cavity of the larynx in articulation un- 
discovered, would naturally fail to discover anything rela- 
ting to the vowel sounds in the movements of the upper 
borders of the ventricles. 27 
In view, however, of the fact that alteration of the inte- 
rior vocal chords cannot be made without affecting the 
chords close above, and of the peculiar activity in the upper 
cavity of the larynx during vowel sounds, together with the 
further fact that, in singing, the cavity of the mouth, and 
the surrounding organs are engaged in giving expression 
more to the vocal tones, than to the vowel sounds, I infer 
that the upper vocal chords, the ventricles, and their asso- 
ciated sacs, assist in forming the vowel qualities, at least, 
when the ether parts of the apparatus of speech are specially 
active in vocal expression. It is also probable that, even in 
speech, the vowels having the higher qualities are in part 
formed by them. My own observations and experiments 
with the natural organs, and by other means, indicate that 
they are. But this subject may shortly be better understood; 
for a laryngoscope might be arranged with a double tube to 
fit into the roof of the mouth, over the tongue, so that the 
superior vocal chords in the vowel sound ee could be ob- 
served through one tube, proper light being thrown in 
through the other. 
It is probable that in very few cases has the whole of the 
tongue been lost. If any is left in front of the epiglottis, it 
is to be expected that it would be more on the sides where 
the tongue goes further back, and where the muscles, which 
pass down from the styloid processes, enter it, and these mus- 
cles would therefore still remain to draw any portion of the 
tongue back. That some part does remain in front of the 
epiglottis in every case in which speech is left at all perfect 
seems probable. In cases where it has been taken away for 
punishment it is hardly possible that, unskillful as the exe- 
cutioners must be, they could get at the tongue very low 
down. In the case of Robert Rawlings the whole tongue 
was, it is said, removed because of cancer, by Mr. Nunneley 
in 1861, and the patient spoke well shortly after the opera- 
tion. The Hon. Edward Twistleton reports and remarks 
upon this case very fully in his work, “ The Tongue not 
Essential to Speech,” London, 1873. At his request Raw- 28 
lings submitted his mouth to Sir Charles Lyell, Dr. Milman, 
Professors Huxley, Owen and Faraday. The letters t and 
d could not he pronounced as, to form them, the tongue goes 
up to the gum just inside the upper front teeth, hut the 
speech was on the whole good. It does not appear in this 
case that the epiglottis was seen by any of the gentlemen 
who examined the mouth. This silence in regard to so im- 
portant a point indicates that some of the tongue yet covered 
the epiglottis. Judging from Sir Charles Lyell’s statement, 
enough of the tongue remained to give attachment to the 
muscles which draw the tongue hack, and probably sufficient 
to pad the epiglottis, and hold it steady under the vibration 
of the low tones. Certainly there was none that could in 
the least affect the resonance of the mouth. If, in any case, 
the epiglottis were left entirely exposed, it is not likely that 
the speech would he as perfect as in Pawling’s case. The 
movements made by the base of the tongue in the vowel 
sounds are merely like those of the epiglottis, which it com- 
plements. In addition to this its body and point aid in 
forming the consonants, except those formed by the lips, or 
by the lower lip and the upper teeth. Its movements in 
the mouth are regulated so as not to interfere with its rela- 
tions to the epiglottis or alter the vowel quality, and in some 
sounds perhaps, it even assists in keeping them perfect in 
disadvantageous conditions of the mouth cavity. It is not 
surprising, therefore, that it should long be supposed that 
speech was more dependent upon the tongue than it really 
is : but notwithstanding the very great importance attached 
to it in regard to its participation in speech, the fact that 
the tongue is the superior epiglottis has never before been 
shown, nor, so far as I know, ever suspected. With this in 
view, it is seen how the epiglottis itself can be injured or 
lost, and a fair capability of speech remain. Intelligible 
speech is also possible after loss of the tongue, if the epiglot- 
tis is intact, so that the usefulness of the larynx is doubly 
secured. 29 
The larynx is also protected by the projecting lower jaw. 
This bone, moved by muscles attached to its upper termina- 
tion (in a line with the opening of the ear,) gives a base of 
support by its lower part) to the muscles of the hyoid bone 
and tongue, enabling them to act efficiently in vocalization 
and articulation. This control of the lower jaw at its up- 
per extremities in man, so different from that of the lower 
animals, is associated with a marked peculiarity in the hu- 
man hyoid bone. The ends of the hyoid bone in the dog, 
the sheep, the deer and other animals articulate “ close,” 
that is, directly with the upper cornua of the thyroid carti- 
lage, and no play consequently is possible; in man on the 
other hand, great mobility is secured in these parts by 
means of an intervening flexible ligament, between the 
greater cornu of the hyoid bone, and the superior cornu of 
the thyroid cartilage, by which,'change in their relative 
positions can be made at will. 
Through these peculiarities of the jaw and hyoid bone 
the human larynx can be controlled and supplemented, 
and the wonderful faculty of speech is made possible.