THE THROAT AND ITS FUNCTIONS 
IN SWALLOWING, BREATHING AND THE PRODUCTION OF 
THE VOICE. 
BY 
LOUIS ELSBERG, A.M., M.D., 
Professor of Laryngology and Diseases of the Throat in the Medical Department of the 
University of New York; Professor of Comparative Laryngology in Columbia 
Veterinary College; Lecturer on Throat Diseases in Dartmouth Medical 
College, Woman’s Medical College, etc.; Physician to Charity Hospital 
(Throat Ward) j- President of the American Laryngological Association, 
Member of the New York Laryngological Society ; Member of the 
American Academy of Medicine, New York Academy of 
Medicine, American Medical Association, etc., etc., etc. 
LECTURE DELIVERED IN THE HALL 0*F THE YOUNG MEN’S CHRISTIAN 
ASSOCIATION, FEBRUARY 25, 1879, BEING ONE OF A COURSE 
OF POPULAR-SCIENTIFIC LECTURES INSTITUTED BY 
THE NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 
SECOND EDITION—ILLUSTEA TED. 
ALBANY, N. Y. i 
EDGAR S. WERNER, 
188c. ARCHIVES OF LARYNGOLOGY. 
EDITED BY 
LOUIS ELSBERG, M. D., ■ d 
614 Fifth Ave., New York. 
Published by G. P. PUTNAM’S SONS, 
27 & 29 W. 23d St., New York. 
The scope of the Archives embraces Human and Compara- 
tive Morphology and Physiology of the Throat, and Pathology 
and Therapeutics of Throat Diseases, in the widest signification 
of the terms. 
All contributions are original. The contents are arranged in 
three departments, which are : 
I. New Contributions to Literature, viz., 
a. Leading Articles, comprising Monographs and accounts of 
cases with remarks. 
b. Clinical Notes, being a briefer record of interesting cases. 
c. Society Transactions, i. e., reports of the proceedings of 
Laryngological Societies, or of matters relating to Laryngology 
occurring in other societies, and not previously published. 
II. Report of Contemporary Literature, viz., 
a Reviews and Notices of Books and Pamphlets. 
b. Digest of the Literature of every part of the world. 
III. Miscellany, viz., 
News Items, Editorial Announcements, and Answers to Cor- 
respondents,— the latter being planned particularly for commu- 
nication between specialists and general practitioners. 
The Archives of Laryngology is handsomely printed in 
large octavo form, each number containing 96 pages, and the 
articles are fully illustrated whenever their subjects render this 
desirable. 
It is issued quarterly at the price per number of $1, and the 
subscription per year of $3. THE THROAT AND ITS FUNCTIONS 
IN SWALLOWING, BREATHING AND THE PRODUCTION OF 
THE VOICE. 
BY 
LOUIS ELSBERG, A.M., M.D., 
Professor of Laryngology and Diseases of the Throat in the Medical Department of the 
University of New York; Professor ol Comparative Laryngology in Columbia 
Veterinary College; Lecturer on Throat Diseases in Dartmouth Medical 
College, Woman’s Medical College, etc.; Physician to Charity Hospital 
(Throat Ward); President of the American Laryngological Association, 
Member of the New York Laryngological Society; Member of the 
American Academy of Medicine, New York Academy of 
Medicine, American Medical Association, etc., etc., etc. 
LECTURE DELIVERED IN THE HALL OF THE YOUNG MEN’S CHRISTIAN 
ASSOCIATION, FEBRUARY 25, 1879, BEING ONE OF A COURSE 
OF POPULAR-SCIENTIFIC LECTURES INSTITUTED BY 
THE NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 
SECOND EDITION—ILLUSTRATED. 
ALBANY, N. Y.: 
EDGAR S. WERNER, 
1882. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
FIGURE FAGE 
1. View of parts seen when the mouth is widely opened . . 6 
2. Diagram showing the food and air tracks ... 8 
3. Diagram of the pharynx, oesophagus and commencement of the 
stomach, seen from the back . . . . . 13 
4. A connected view of the hyoid bone, thyroid body, larynx, windpipe 
with its ramifications, and lungs, the latter partly in outline, partly 
in sectional view . . . . . . .23 
5. Section through head and neck . . . .25 
6. Diagram of two primary lobules of the lungs, magnified . . 26 
7. View of a portion of the trachea . ... . 28 
8. Framework of the larynx, as seen from behind . . . 29 
g. Diagram of cartilages and intrinsic muscles of the larynx . . 32 
10. View of the interior of the larynx, the posterior half being cut away 34 
11. Vocal portion of the elastic membrane of the larynx, in connection 
with the cartilages, seen from above . . . .36 
12. Laryngeal mirror, one-half of actual dimensions; and three mirror- 
surfaces of actual size . . . , . .40 
13. Manner of holding the tongue and laryngeal mirror . . 41 
14. Manner of using the complete laryngoscopic apparatus . . 43 
15. Throat educator, one-half actual size .... 44 
16. Image of the larynx and surrounding parts, twice the actual size . 45 
17. Laryngoscopic image, showing the bifurcation of the trachea . 47 
18. Larynx of patient with double voice . . . . *47 
19. Trachoma of the vocal bands ..... 48 
20. Tumor growth in the larynx . . . . . .48 
21. Autograph of a sounding tuning fork . ... 50 
22. Singing bar of copper placed on block of lead . . . 51 
23. Card held against revolving toothed wheel ... 54 
24. Simplest form of the siren . . . . . >54 
25. Helmholtz’s resonators ...... 56 THE THROAT AND ITS FUNCTIONS. 
A LECTURE. 
Ladies and Gentlemen :—Many of you know, but most 
of you probably do not know, that the Academy of Sciences, 
under whose auspices we are here assembled, is one of the 
oldest scientific societies among us. Under the name of 
“ Lyceum of Natural History,” it has existed since the early 
part of this century, and for over fifty years has been pub- 
lishing from time to time its annals, “ to record” as was said 
in an old advertisement, “ new and valuable facts in natural 
history, and to advance the public good by the diffusion of 
useful knowledge.” 
About three years ago, the Lyceum, like a young lady on 
getting married, changed its name, to increase its sphere of 
action and usefulness. Last year, the Academy, recognizing 
that a knowledge of the advances of science should not be 
limited to the narrow circle of its own votaries, established a 
course of popular scientific lectures, three of which were deliv- 
ered in this hall. The object of this course was announced to 
be: “ To awaken and diffuse an interest in science among the 
community at large, and to make the work of the Academy 
more widely known, and its claim to public sympathy and sup- 
port more highly appreciated.” 
In furtherance of the same object, the Academy has now 
been enabled to arrange for six lectures, the first of which was 4 
THE THROAT AND ITS FUNCTIONS. 
delivered a week ago, and to the second of which I invite your 
indulgent attention this evening. 
As I have professionally the repute of being a special kind 
of cut-throat, I have chosen for my subject, the Throat. 
If you look in Webster's Dictionary for a definition of the ' 
word “ Throat,” you will find that in ship-builder’s and mar- 
iner’s language, it is “ the inside of the knee-timber at the middle 
or turns of the arm,” and “ that end of a gaff which is next the 
mast; ” also “ the rounded angular point where the arm of an 
anchor is joined to the shank.” In chimney-sweep’s language 
it is “ the part of a chimney between the gathering, or portion 
of the funnel which contracts in ascending, and the flue.” But 
I am not going to talk to you in either of these languages. I 
mean the throat which is an integral part of our own body. 
Usually, in speaking of a person’s head, we include both the 
posterior portion which is the head proper, and the anterior 
portion or face. So in speaking of the neck (i.e., the part of the 
body between the head and trunk), we include the posterior 
portion or neck proper, and the anterior portion or throat. The 
throat holds the same relation to the neck, that the face does 
to the head, and as there is no distinct boundary line between 
the face and head, so there is none between the throat and 
neck. Furthermore, just as the face contains in the mouth 
and nose the commencements of the passages for food and 
breath, so the throat contains their continuations. It is this 
fact which gives the throat its prominence and importance in 
the animal economy. 
Swallowing and breathing are the two most momentous func- 
tions for life, and the actions of the throat in performing these THE THROAT AND ITS FUNCTIONS. 
5 
and that other function, of which the throat is the special organ, 
namely, the production of voice, together with various modi- 
fications of these functions, constitute our theme. What I 
have to say, falls therefore, under the three heads, swallow- 
ing, breathing, and phonation. 
I. SWALLOWING. 
During health, swallowing is performed so quickly and so 
easily, that it seems a very simple process ; you bring a morsel 
of appropriate food or a drink under your nose, your jaws move 
apart, your mouth receives it, a little muscular action follows, 
—and it has gone on its way to the stomach. Perhaps you ex- 
perience a good deal of pleasure in the process, if your appetite 
be good and the morsel delicious ; but you would hardly believe 
that the act of swallowing is exceedingly complicated, that its 
investigation has engaged the patient research of a large num- 
ber of physiologists for more than ioo years, and that the mys- 
tery of its mechanism has been solved, and the process thor- 
oughly understood only within the last ten or fifteen years. 
The parts of the body specially engaged in swallowing are : 
the back of the tongue, the soft palate, the fauces, the larynx, 
the pharynx and the oesophagus or gullet. 
1 should be very sorry to inflict tedious anatomical details 
upon you, but I must make you a little acquainted with these 
parts. 
If you look either into your own mouth widely opened befo e 
a mirror, or into a friend’s, you will see on the floor of the moutii, 
the tongue, and on the roof beyond the hard palate a cur- 
tain o"r veil, hanging obliquely downward and backward, with 6 
THE THROAT AND ITS FUNCTIONS. 
a small tongue-like appendage in the middle. This veil 
is the soft palate, and the little appendage in the middle 
is the uvula. From each side of the veil, two folds of 
the mucous membrane emerge, one going forward to the side 
of the tongue and one backward. These are the arches of the 
palate ; and the space included between these palatine arches is 
called the fauces. Beyond the fauces, the space at the back 
of the throat is called the pharynx. 
Hartl Palate. 
Soft Palate. 
Uvula. 
Anterior pa- 
latine arch. 
Tonsil. 
Fauces. 
Posterior pa- 
latine arch. 
Pharynx 
Tongue. 
Fig. I. View of Parts seen when the mouth is widely opened 
The tonsils, of which all of you have doubtless heard, are 
the two almond-shaped bodies, one situated on each side of 
the fauces in the triangular recess between the anterior and 
posterior arch of the palate. THE THROAT AND ITS FUNCTIONS. 
7 
Fig. i is a representation of what is seen when the jaws are 
widely separated and the tongue is lying flat on the floor of 
the mouth. The roof of the mouth is the palate comprising 
two portions, viz.: the hard and the soft palate {velum) ; 
the tapering appendage at the middle of the latter is the 
uvula. On each side of the base of the uvula, the soft palate 
forms two crescentic folds, of which the front and narrower 
goes to the side of the tongue, and the other, the broader and 
longer one, to the side of the pharynx ; the first is called pa- 
latoglossal or anterior palatine arch, the second palato- 
pharyngeal or posterior palatine arch. The cavity of 
the mouth is held to terminate at an ideal plane passing through 
the anterior palatine arches ; beyond this, and to a plane pass- 
ing through the posterior arches, the straits or passage leading 
to the back of the throat are called the fauces (,isthmus 
faucium). 
The pharynx is a cavity of very irregular shape extending 
from the base of the skull in front of the vertebral column or 
back-bone down to a level with the fifth vertebra of the neck. 
Below this level its continuation is called oesophagus. It 
is divisible into three portions, the middle of which is behind 
the mouth and fauces, and is called pharynx, in the restricted 
sense, or oro-pharynx to distinguish it from the upper por- 
tion or naso-pharynx (Fig. v, A) and lower portion or 
laryngo-pharynx. (Fig. v, C). 
If you examine Fig. v, or the simple diagram Fig. ii, (say at 
the intersection of the dotted and unbroken lines) you will 
see that, aside from the track comprising from behind for- 
ward the pharynx, fauces and mouth, there are, at the back of 8 
THE THROAT AND IIS FUNCTIONS. 
Fig. II. Diagram showing the food and air tracks. 
the throat, several passages leading in different directions, 
viz. : one upward and forward into the nose, another down- 
ward and in front into the windpipe, and a third downward 
and behind, into the gullet. 
The last is the passage to be taken by the food ; and if you 
consider that this food-pipe is situated behind the wind-pipe, 
vou will understand that some provision must exist to prevent 
the food from going the wrong way. That provision is simple. THE THROAT AND ITS FUNCTIONS. 
9 
yet beautiful, and of almost unfailing efficacy. The violent 
coughing and choking induced when food accidentally (or per- 
haps by our own negligence of the protection provided) passes 
into the wind-pipe, are but a specimen of the serious evils, the 
unpleasantnesses and the dangers to life, which would be con- 
tinually occurring were it not for the following device. The 
top of the wind-pipe, which is called the larynx and of which I 
shall have to tell you a good deal more before the end of the 
lecture, is provided with a somewhat spoon-shaped or oval lid, 
(see Fig. iv, v or vii), called the cover-cartilage, or epiglottis 
(from two Greek words, epi upon and glottis the mouthpiece 
of a flute, because it shuts down upon what we shall learn 
is the organ of the voice). This lid has its hinge in front, 
and projects upward from behind the root of the tongue 
(see Fig. v, or the diagram Fig. ii. But it is more than a 
simple lid ; and it is not the only thing which prevents food 
from passing into the wind-pipe, for, in fact, in cases in 
which the whole upper portion of the epiglottis has been 
destroyed by disease, patients become able to swallow well 
enough without it. The sides of the upper portion of the 
larynx approach each other as though it was being com- 
pressed laterally, and the lower projecting portion of the epi- 
glottis—its so-called cushion—closes over the entrance into 
the lower laryngeal cavity. There are therefore here three 
safeguards, and you can easily understand now how food can 
pass from the back of the tongue into the food-pipe without 
falling into the wind-pipe. 
The passage of the food upward into the nostrils is prevented 
by the soft palate being raised and going backward, and the back 10 
THE THROAT AND ITS FUNCTIONS. 
wall of the pharynx coming forward, so that the two surfaces 
meet and shut off the nasal cavity ; besides which, the posterior 
palatine arches to some extent approximate, like side-curtains, 
and form inclined planes, along the under surface of which the 
morsel descends. 
The act of swallowing is divisible into two periods, the first 
of which carries the aliment to the gullet, and the second to the 
stomach. The tongue by successive contraction and eleva- 
tion from the tip to the base pushes the food toward the 
pharynx, and there are provided between the tongue and the 
epiglottis two pits or depressions, called valleculae or little 
valleys, (see Fig. ii or v), to act as receptacles for overflow. 
This is the first place where foreign bodies are caught and 
detained. 
At the same time that the nasal cavity is shut off, as just 
explained, the tongue-bone (see Figs, iv and v), and larynx 
are raised, carrying with them the floors of the valleculae, so 
that these disappear, and the larynx is pushed, as it were, 
under the arched tongue ; and the bolus must pass over the 
top (which is really the front) surface of the epiglottis into the 
lower pharynx, where another pair of reservoirs for overflow 
is provided, called the pyriform or pear-shaped sinuses (see 
Fig. viii). This is another place where foreign bodies are 
easily caught and detained. 
1'he bolus at this moment presses the larynx forward, but 
by the contraction of the constrictor muscles of the phar- 
ynx, is itself pushed into the oesophagus, and the pyriform 
sinuses are emptied by the action of the palato-pharyngeal 
muscles. You see, all this is the work of the muscular con- THE THROAT AND ITS FUNCTIONS. 
11 
traction of the tongue, soft palate, fauces, larynx and pharynx, 
and constitutes the first period of swallowing. The second is 
the period during which the parts hitherto contracted, relax. 
The larynx descends and thereby pushes the bolus a little 
lower, and once in the oesophagus the course of the food is easy 
enough. The oesophagus is simply a round tube made up of 
two rows of muscular fibres, the outer one longitudinal and the 
inner transverse and circular, with a soft moist lining membrane, 
which facilitates the transmission of the contents. When not 
expanded by the bolus it is closed ; i.e., its back and front 
walls are in contact ; its lining membrane is then thrown into 
longitudinal folds, so that a cross section is somewhat star- 
shaped. Its position in relation to the back-bone is shown in 
the diagram Fig. iii. 
The oesophagus reminds one of the good and noble people 
that are sometimes met with in the world, whose life is spent in 
doing good to others without a thought of self. It has been 
calculated that it carries more than two thousand pounds of 
food a year to the stomach, retaining nothing for itself. 
The bolus, when introduced into the gullet, always assumes 
the shape of an egg with the pointed end upward. Even a 
liquid—for instance, a mouthful of water—gets this shape. 
The upper part of the tube is stimulated to contract by the 
presence of the mass, this contraction pushes the mass down- 
ward ; the portion of the gullet now reached, contracts in 
its turn and propels the mass further ; and so on in succes- 
sion. till it arrives at the stomach. This successive or so-called 
peristaltic movement is easily observed in horses while they are 
drinking, as an undulatory or wavy contraction which proceeds 12 
THE THROAT AND ITS FUNCTIONS. 
rapidly along the tube ; and in the human subject, the sounds 
which this movement produces have recently supplied us with 
a new and important means of diagnosis in cases of disease 
of the gullet—the so-called auscultation of the oesophagus. 
The whole process of swallowing is peristaltic, and the won- 
derful accuracy with which the parts are successively brought 
into apposition is seen in the fact that we can swallow an 
exceedingly small bolus, as a very minute pill or grain of 
seed. 
It is often supposed that the morsel passes along the gullet 
by its own weight ; but to correct this error we need but recol- 
lect that in the horse and cow, for example, the mouth is on a 
level with the ground when feeding, and that the morsel is con- 
sequently propelled upward into the stomach against its own 
gravity. It is well-known also, and often made a matter of 
public exhibition, that a man can swallow, even liquids, when 
standing on the crown of his head, with the natural position of 
the stomach reversed. 
The modifications of swallowing need not detain us long. 
Dysphagia or painful swallowing is always a symptom of some 
diseased condition of the throat. Choking while eating is also 
symptomatic of throat disease, but with the parts perfectly 
healthy it is caused, when the person laughs or talks, or 
breathes, while in the act of swallowing,—sometimes from mere 
inattention or a sudden shock or mental impression. I have 
been at a dinner table at which a gentleman got a piece of meat 
lodged in one of the valleculae, which so completely pressed 
down the epiglottis that breathing was stopped. The gentle- 
man became dark in the face, and in all human probability THE THROAT AND ITS FUNCTIONS 
13 
Fig. III. Diagram of the pharynx, oesophagus, and commence- 
ment OF THE STOMACH, SEEN FROM THE BACK. 
a. Marks a level at about five-eighths of an inch below the 
external protuberance of the occipital bone. 
b. Shows the pharynx, which becomes narrow and forms 
the oesophagus at about an inch above the lowest vertebra 
of the neck. 
c. Marks the position of the lowest or the so-called prom- 
inent cervical vertebra. 
d. Shows the termination of the oesophagus and commence- 
ment of the stomach, a little below the level of the lower 
border of the shoulder-blade, /.<?., opposite the ninth ver- 
tebra of the back. 14 
THE THROAT AND ITS FUNCTIONS. 
would have died within a few minutes, if the offending body 
had not been removed. 
Gargling is a modification of swallowing a liquid, in which 
the epiglottis does not firmly close the laryngeal aperture and 
the expiratory current of air throws the liquid into vibrations, 
making the peculiar gurgling noise. 
The mechanism of eructation of gas, regurgitation of liquids 
and solids, and vomiting, consists chiefly in an inspiratory de- 
pression of the diaphragm with holding the breath and contract- 
ing the abdominal muscles. This produces increased pressure 
in the cavity of the abdomen, and diminished pressure in that 
of the chest, acting on the gullet in the way of propulsion on 
the one hand and suction on the other. An anti-peristaltic 
muscular action of the oesophagus, which unquestionably oc- 
curs in ruminant animals, has not been proved to take place in 
man or carnivora. The windpipe and the posterior nasal 
opening are protected during eructation, regurgitation and 
vomiting, in the same manner as in swallowing. But the 
occlusion is usually less perfect: On this account the prick- 
ling effect of carbonic acid gas mixed with the air coming 
up f. i. after drinking sparkling liquids, may be distinctly 
felt in the nose; and vomiting is followed as a rule by 
coughing, a reflex paroxysm to expel whatever may have 
found lodgment in the upper cavity of the larynx or near 
its aperture. The cough may, however, come also, alone, 
from irritation of those portions of the posterior laryngeal 
wall with which the matter vomited necessarily comes into 
contact. THE THROAT AND ITS FUNCTIONS. 
15 
II.—BREATHING. 
The action of the throat in relation to respiration consists 
in the conduction of the air ; in the regulation, in some degree, 
of its quantity and character, especially as to temperature ; 
and in the resistance afforded to the ingression of foreign 
bodies, which by their presence within the lungs or lower air 
tubes would be injurious to, or destructive of, life. 
In quiet, natural breathing the mouth is closed,. The air 
entering through the nose passes through the naso-pharynx into 
the middle portion of the pharynx, thence into the larynx, and 
so on through the windpipe and bronchial tubes into the lungs. 
It makes its exit through the same channels out through the 
nose. The cavity of the mouth is shut off from this passing 
current of air. The soft palate is in contact with the back of 
the tongue, and through the mutual approximation of the 
epiglottis and tongue, the valleculae are closed and done away 
with, and in this position of the parts during quiet breathing 
no air can reach the mouth. 
When we breathe wholly or partially through the mouth, 
the position of the parts involved is entirely changed. Breath- 
ing through the mouth takes place perfectly physiologically 
during violent, forced and deep respiration, that is, whenever 
the capacity of the nasal channels does not suffice for the 
volume of air to be inhaled ; also during talking and singing, 
and whenever the mouth is not closed and the uvula is drawn 
down. Abnormally, it occurs whenever, from catarrh or other 
disease, the nasal passage is obstructed or closed. The air, 
entering the oral cavity, passes through the fauces into the 16 
THE THROAT AND ITS FUNCTIONS. 
pharynx and larynx and so on as before. The valleculae may 
then be more or less open, the soft palate may be raised and 
the nasal cavity more or less shut off, which is especially the 
case if immediately before, a vowel has been sounded and an- 
other is to be produced after the inspiration. In this case 
the muscle of the uvula usually contracts. 
If, from any cause, the uvula is relaxed, while it may touch 
the wall of the throat behind or the raised back of the tongue 
in front, the passing current of air may set it to vibrate sonor- 
ously, i.e., to making the inharmonic music called “snoring.” 
Do you want to know the conditions that produce, or favor 
the production of, these sonorous or “ snorous” vibrations ? 
In the first place, the horizontal position during sleep, with 
the mouth open ; and in the second place, very profound sleep, 
as after severe bodily exertion, mental work or emotional 
shock. The second on account of the greater degree of un- 
consciousness, and therefore muscular relaxation ; and the 
first because, in breathing through the nose, the air column 
touches the posterior surface of the uvula alone, and this only 
with little force ; but in breathing through the mouth, both 
surfaces are energetically touched. All things that interfere 
with natural and easy breathing during the sleep : therefore, 
clothing tight around the throat or chest, heavy covering and 
late suppers, especially exciting drink with well filled stomach 
in corpulent persons, predispose to snoring. Whoever has 
catarrh, or any disease interfering with nasal breathing, must 
snore ; but very often after the necessity for breathing through 
the mouth has passed away, habit keeps it up, and it is on this 
account that a little invention of mine for the cure of snoring THE THROAT AND ITS FUNCTIONS. 
17 
was successful, and became very popular a dozen or more 
years ago. It consisted simply of a night-cap or muzzle, 
which forced the patient to keep the mouth shut. I do not 
mean to say, however, that it is impossible to snore with the 
mouth closed. It is only more difficult of accomplish- 
ment, but I have known inveterate adepts who have suc- 
ceeded in spite of this and other obstacles. Sometimes I 
have prevented snoring by pulling the tongue out, sometimes 
by drawing the uvula forward and fastening it. If the last 
manoeuvre is energetically carried out, snoring is made im- 
possible. 
I repeat that the natural mode of quiet breathing is through 
the nose ; mouth-breathing is an acquirement. A new-born 
infant would choke to death if you closed its nose ; it does not 
immediately know how to get air into the lungs through the 
mouth until after, by depressing the tongue, you have once 
made a passage for it. 
George Catlin, the celebrated traveller among American In- 
dians, became so thoroughly convinced that the difference 
between the healthy condition and physical perfection of these 
people in their primitive state, especially their sound teeth 
and good lungs, and the deplorable mortality, the numerous 
diseases and deformities, in civilized communities, is mainly 
due to the habit, common among the latter, of breathing 
through the mouth, especially during sleep,—that he wrote a 
book, entitled, “ Malrespiration and its effects upon the enjoy- 
ments and life of man.” In this book he says, “ If I were to 
endeavor to bequeath to posterity the most important motto 
which human language can convey, it should be in the three 18 
THE THROAT AND ITS FUNCTIONS. 
words, ‘shut your mouth.’ In the social transactions of life 
this might have its beneficial results as the most friendly cau- 
tionary advice, or be received as the grossest of insults ; but 
where I would print and engrave it, in every nursery and on 
every bedpost in the universe, its meaning could not be mis- 
taken, and if obeyed, its importance would soon be realized.” 
He also .says, “ It is one of the misfortunes of civilization 
that it has too many amusing and exciting things for the mouth 
to say, and too many delicious things for it to taste, to allow of 
its being closed during the day. The mouth therefore has too 
little reserve for the protection of its natural purity of express- 
ion, and too much exposure for the protection of its garniture ; 
but, do keep your mouth shut when you read, when you write, 
when you listen, when you are in pain, when you are walking, 
when you are running, when you are riding, and by all means 
when you are angry! There is no person but who will find and 
acknowledge improvement in health and enjoyment from even a 
temporary attention to this advice.” 
Again he says, “ there is a proverb, as old and unchangeable 
as their hills, amongst North American Indians, ‘ my son, if 
thou wouldst be wise, open first thy eyes ; thy ears next, and 
last of all thy mouth, that thy words may be words of wisdom 
and give no advantage to thine adversary.’ This might be 
adopted with good effect in civilized life ; he who would strictly 
adhere to it would be sure to reap its benefits in his waking 
hours, and would soon find the habit running into his hours of 
rest, into which he would calmly enter ; dismissing the nervous 
anxieties of the day, as he firmly closed his teeth and his lips, 
only to be opened after his eyes and his ears in the morning, THE THROAT AND ITS FUNCTIONS. 
19 
the rest of such sleep would bear him daily and hourly proof of 
its value.” 
Catlin regards the habit of sleeping with the mouth open the 
most pernicious of all bad habits. The horrors of night-mare 
and snoring are according to him but the least of its evil 
effects. He thinks “ for the greater portion of the thousands 
and tens of thousands of persons suffering with weakness of 
lungs, with bronchitis, asthma, indigestion and other affections 
of the digestive and respiratory organs,” the correction of this 
habit is a panacea for their ills ! 
He insists that “ mothers should be looked to as the first and 
principal correctors of this most destructive of human habits; 
* * * and the united and simultaneous efforts of the civil- 
ized world should be exerted in the overthrow of a monster so 
destructive to the good looks and life of man. Every physician 
should advise his patients, and every boarding-school in exist- 
ence and every hospital should have its surgeon or matron, and 
every regiment its officer, to make their nightly and hourly 
‘ rounds,’ to force a stop to so unnatural, disgusting and danger- 
ous a habit ! Under the working of such a system, mothers 
guarding and helping the helpless, school-masters their scholars, 
hospital surgeons their patients, generals their soldiers, and the 
rest of the world protecting themselves, a few years would show 
the glorious results in the bills of mortality and the next gen- 
eration would be a regeneration of the human race.” 
So much for the conduction of the air; as to the regulation 
of its quantity and the protection to the lower respiratory 
organs afforded by the throat, I need-here only refer to the 
valvular action of the palate, base of tongue, pharynx and epi- THE THROAT AND ITS FUNCTIONS. 
20 
glottis already described ; to the double valve arrangement in 
the interior of the larynx to be described ; to the hair in the 
interior of the nose ; to the possession, by the mucous mem- 
brane, of secreting glands to moisten it, and of cilia, or hair- 
like projections, moving in the direction of the outlet, to 
remove excess of secretion as well as foreign matter, and per- 
haps also to promote the mixing of the stagnant air in the lung 
with the freshly inspired air ; and finally, to the reflex produc- 
tion of cough. 
Of the different modifications of breathing, so far as the 
throat is concerned, I may say that most of them are accom- 
panied by the production of some sort of noise, as for instance, 
hawking and coughing, as well as the convulsive actions of 
laughing, weeping and sobbing ; each of these has a biography 
of its own, into the detailed consideration of which I cannot 
now enter. But I shall make a few remarks concerning some 
of them when explaining the production of vocal sound. 
Sucking is an inspiratory act to produce a vacuum to draw 
into the mouth usually liquids, though sometimes also semi- 
solids and aeriform substances. Sipping is drawing in a liquid 
in small quantity by suction. In smoking of tobacco and other 
substances the smoke is drawn in by suction : The smoke is 
exhaled either through the mouth, by opening it suddenly, 
which is called puffing, or through the nose,, but in either case 
without entering the larynx ; for at the very moment it ap- 
proaches the epiglottis, expiration commences, except in the 
Turkish mode of smoking, which alone constitutes inhalation of 
the smoke. Some persons, however, swallow the smoke after 
sucking it into the mouth. THE THROAT AND ITS FUNCTIONS. 
21 
In straining and in every violent muscular effort, there is a 
closure of the parts, which confines the air within the lungs and 
throat. This is described by Shakespeare when he makes 
Henry V encourage his soldiers at the siege of Harfleur. (In 
King Henry V, act 3d, scene 1st.) 
“ Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more ; * * * 
In peace, there’s nothing so becomes a man, 
As modest stillness, and humility ; 
But, when the blast of war blows in our ears, 
Then, imitate the action of the tiger ;”**** 
“ Now * * * 
Hold hard the breath, and bend up every spirit 
To his full height! ” 
III. PHONATION. 
All animals, except the lowest, possess some means of mak- 
ing themselves heard. Many have the power of emitting vocal 
sounds in which the practiced ear can recognize variations of 
cadence, character and power, conveying to other individuals 
of the same genus or species intimations of danger, of pleasure, 
of suffering or distress, of sources of nourishment, of desire, of 
affection, and perhaps many other emotions and suggestions, in 
a language which, in all except its most prominent and mani- 
fest meanings, is unknown to us. Human voice and speech con- 
stitute the grand distinguishing characteristics of humanity. 
They are the chief means of developing the mental faculties, 
and of communing with our fellowmen. They can embody all 
human perceptions and desires ; all that the mind can conceive, 
and all that the soul can feel. They can welcome, warn or 22 
THE THROAT AND ITS FUNCTIONS. 
persuade, attract or repel, excite or soothe, mourn or mock, 
sympathize or threaten, flatter, beg or command ; and in song, 
united with music, like Iris, the messenger of gods, they can 
carry to the souls of mortals unspeakable love, or passion, or 
peace. 
Their mechanism somewhat resembles the musical instrument 
—the reed organ. In the organ there is a bellows to supply a 
current of air, a wind-chest or portevent to conduct it, a reed 
} 
to vibrate, and a body-tube or resonance-pipe to augment and 
modify the sound produced. In the human voice- and speech- 
organ, the lungs are the bellows ; the bronchial tubes, from 
the smallest ramifications upward to the wind-pipe, are the 
wind-chest; the larynx contains the reed ; and the space above 
the reed, including the uppet cavity of the larynx and the 
cavities and adnexa of the pharynx, mouth and nose, consti- 
tutes the resonance-tube. 
With some parts of this complex organ you are already ac- 
quainted. I shall now describe in detail the hyoid bone, thy- 
roid body, larynx, wind-pipe, with its ramifications, and lungs. 
In Fig. iv, i is the epiglottis which belongs to the larynx, 
but projects above and behind the hyoid or tongue bone 2. 
On each side of the central portion or body of the latter is 
seen the greater horn of the hyoid bone, and at the junc- 
tion of the greater horns and the body are the lesser horns. 
1,4 5 and 6 show the larynx, of which in a front view are 
seen three cartilages, viz.: epiglottis, thyroid and cricoid only; 
the thyroid cartilage 4 shows a deep notch in the middle 
of its upper edge, into which the epiglottis 1 is inserted ; 5, 5 
are the superior horns of the thyroid cartilage, and 3, 3 the THE THROAT AND ITS FUNCTIONS. 
23 
Fig. IV. A connected view of the hyoid bone, thyroid body 
LARYNX, WIND-PIPE WITH ITS RAMIFICATIONS, AND LUNGS. 24 
THE THROAT AND ITS FUNCTIONS. 
thyro-hyoid ligament which fasten the ends of these horns 
to the extremities of the greater horns of the hyoid bone, 6 is 
the cricoid cartilage, which is seen to be narrow in front, 
but with its upper edge rising obliquely : at its sides it is at- 
tached to the inferior horns of the thyroid cartilage. 
Between the lower edge of the thyroid and the upper of the 
cricoid cartilage a portion of the elastic membrane of the 
larynx—the so-called thyro-cricoid membrane—is seen. Below 
the cricoid cartilage is the crico-tracheal ligament; this 
unites the larynx to the wind-pipe or trachea, which extends 
down to the bifurcation 9. At 8, 8, 8 are seen tracheal car- 
tilaginous rings. 7 shows the thyroid body, its isthmus 
being in the middle and its lateral lobes extending lower 
down the trachea on the one hand, and on the other so high 
up as to hide almost completely the thyro-cricoid joint. 
At the bifurcation of the trachea 9, commence the left 
bronchus 10 and the right bronchus n. A, A show in 
outline the two lobes of the left lung into which the bron- 
chial tubes a, a are seen to enter. The three lobes of the 
right lung are indicated by B, B, B, with the corresponding 
bronchial tubes b, b, b. In the upper lobe of the right lung 
is indicated in outline the manner in which the bronchial tubes 
subdivide into smaller and smaller tubes, which finally termi- 
nate in air-passages and air-cells of the primary lobules 
of the lungs, (see Fig. vi). 
In Fig. v., the letter A shows the naso-pharynx, B the 
oro-pharynx, and C the laryngo-pharynx ; i to vii are 
the first to seventh cervical vertebrae; 1 is the frontal 
sinus, 2 the sphenoidal sinus, and 3 occipital bone; 4 THE THROAT AND ITS FUN C TONS. 
25 
Fig. V. Representation of section through head and neck. 26 
THE THROAT AND ITS FUNCTIONS. 
the superior and 5 the inferior turbinated process of the 
ethmoid bone; 6 the turbinated bone, 7 the hard and 8 
the soft palate; 9 the uvula, 10 anterior palatine arch, 
11 lower jaw bone, 12 tonsil, 13 orifice of the eustach- 
ian tube, 14 Rosenmiiller’s fossa, 15 tongue, 16 hyoid 
bone, 17 posterior palatine arch, 18 vallecula, 19 epi- 
glottis, 20 thyroid cartilage, 21 ventricular fold, 22 
vocal band, 23 arytenoid cartilage, 24 cuneiform carti- 
lage, 25 cricoid cartilage, 26 anterior muscle, 27 supra- 
arytenoid cartilage, 28 lateral muscle, 29 thyroid body, 
wind-pipe, 31 food-pipe. 
Fid VI. Diagram of two primary lobules of the lungs, magnified 
A bronchial tube is seen to go to each primary lobule, 
of which a pair is represented, 2, 2, connected by fibro-elastic 
tissue; 3, 3, shows intercellular air passages ; 4, air 
cells; 5, branches of the pulmonary artery and vein. 
The lungs are essentially composed of groups of little elastic 
bags, called air vesicles or air-cells, each about the one-tenth 
of a line in diameter, which form a primary lobule (see Fig. vi. 
2). Each lobule when sufficiently magnified shows some ex- 
ternal resemblance to a bunch of grapes ; in its structure it THE THROAT AND ITS FUNCTIONS. 
27 
represents the entire lung. It consists, as the diagram Fig. vi 
shows, of a minute bronchial tube (i), opening into an air- 
passage (3), which communicates with a multitude of air-cells 
(4). When the chest is expanded, these air vesicles expand on 
account of their .elasticity ; a partial vacuum being 
air from the outside rushes in through the routes already 
described to you. When the chest contracts, the air-cells 
contract or rather are squeezed together, and the air thus 
expelled is supplied through the oronchial tubes and wind- 
pipe to the larynx (see Fig. iv). 
The bronchial tubes (Fig. iv, outer edge of upper B; Fig. 
iv, 1), starting at the air passages (Fig. vi, 3), of the primary 
lobules with a calibre of about the one-fortieth of an inch in 
diameter, coalesce to form larger and larger tubes, until, in the 
right lung (see Fig. iv, b, b, b), three of them, and in the left 
lung (see Fig. iv, a, a), two, unite to form respectively the right 
bronchus, which is about the fourth of an inch in diameter and 
about an inch in length, and the left bronchus, which is nar- 
rower than the right, but about twice its length. 
The trachea or windpipe (weasand), is a cylindroid tube, 
(see Fig. iv) cylindrical in front and on the sides and flat be- 
hind (see Fig vii), about four inches long, from three-fourths 
to an inch in breadth, and one-half to three-quarters of an inch 
in depth. It is composed of a series of incomplete cartilagi- 
nous rings, varying irregularly from sixteen to twenty in 
number, connected by a fibro-elastic membrane, and is lined 
with a mucous membrane continuous above with the lining of 
the larynx and below with that of the bronchial tubes. The 
cartilaginous rings are somewhat horse-shoe shaped, because 28 
THE THROAT AND ITS FUNCTIONS 
they are imperfect at their posterior third, which gives a sec- 
tion of the tube the tunnel-shaped appearance seen in Fig. vii. 
The posterior interval of the cartilaginous rings is occupied by 
a loose fibrous membrane and an internal layer of pale, unstri- 
ated muscular fibres in a transverse direction. 
Fig. VII. A portion of the trachea 
The upper front portion, sometimes fully three-fourths of the 
circumference of the trachea is grasped by the thyroid body. 
(See Fig. iv, 7.) This is a moderately soft, reddish organ, 
which acts as a cushion and as a temporary blood reservoir. 
It consists of a pair of lateral lobes united by a transverse 
isthmus. (Fig. iv, 7.) The isthmus usually covers the second, 
third and fourth tracheal rings, but extends sometimes as high 
up as the cricoid cartilage of the larynx or with a narrow pro- 
jection even as high up as the hyoid bone, and exceptionally as 
low down as the fifth or sixth ring. The lateral lobes are 
oblong oval, thicker below than above and usually of unequal 
length ; they commonly measure about two inches, extending 
from the sixth tracheal ring up to the lower part of the thyroid 
cartilage. The thyroid body is frequently larger in the female THE THROAT AND ITS FUNCTIONS. 
29 
sex than in the male and more liable to enlargement; its per- 
manent enlargement constitutes the affection called goitre. 
The top of the windpipe, the larynx, (see Fig. iv, 1,4 and 6) 
is hung up in the fore part of the neck attached to the hyoid 
or tongue bone. (See Fig. iv. 2.) The hyoid bone itself, is 
not directly connected with the other bones of the body ; but 
is held moveably in its position at the root of the tongue and 
Fig. VIII. Framework of the i.arynx, as seen from behind. 
i, Epiglottis; 2, 2, great horns, 3, 3, small horns of 
the thyroid cartilage ; 4, plate of the cricoid cartilage ; 
5, right arytenoid cartilage; 6, left supra-arytenoid 
cartilage; 7, 7/sesamoid cartilages; P, left posterior 
laryngeal muscle ; T, transverse laryngeal muscle. 30 
THE THROAT AND ITS FUNCTIONS. 
behind, and just under, the chin by numerous ligaments and 
muscles. In shape it resembles a horseshoe, and consists of a 
middle portion or body, two greater horns and two lesser horns. 
It supports the tongue and also the larynx, keeps the pharynx 
patulous and prevents the epiglottis from inclining too far for- 
ward. 
The larynx is an irregularly shaped, but as to its two lateral 
halves symmetrical, open box, somewhat triangular above and 
narrow and cylindrical below. In size, adult larynges differ con- 
siderably, especially according to sex ; the extremes are that in 
the three dimensions: height, (not taking into account the 
length of either the upper horns of the thyroid cartilage, Fig. 
iv, 5» 5> or the epiglottis, Fig. iv, i), width and depth, a large 
male larynx measures about an inch and nine or ten lines, and 
a small female larynx about an inch and one and a-half or two 
lines, the average male larynx measuring a few lines less, and 
the average female larynx a few lines more than these ex- 
tremes. 
The larynx consists of a framework of cartilages (pieces of 
gristle), which are held together by ligaments and moved by 
muscles, provided with blood-vessels, lymphatics and nerves, 
and lined first by a peculiar elastic membrane, and secondly 
by a mucous membrane continuous with that of the mouth, 
nose and pharynx above and trachea below. The cartilages 
composing the larynx are nearly always nine, and occasionally 
eleven, in number, three being single, and three or occasionally 
four, pairs. They are: 
i. The basis or ring cartilage (cricoid) below. (See Fig. iv, 
6 ; Fig. viii, 4.) This is narrow in front and rises up to be very THE THROAT AND ITS FUNCTIONS. 
31 
broad behind (Fig. v, 25). On each side it presents a surface for 
the joint of the shield cartilage. Its broadened posterior 
portion is called its plate. 
7. The shield cartilage (thyroid), the form of which is nearly 
that of the cover of a book half opened, the back of the book 
representing the projection in front externally, known as 
“ Adam’s apple.” On the posterior surface this is called the 
receding angle. A short projection of the shield cartilage 
called the lower horn, (Fig. viii, 3) is attached to each side of 
the basis cartilage forming a hinge joint ; while the upper 
horns (Fig. iv, 5), are fastened by means of the thyro-hyoid 
ligament, (Fig. iv, 3), to the ends of the great horns of the 
hyoid bone. The sides of the shield cartilage flare out to make 
the pyriform sinuses. (Fig. viii, ; Fig. xi, 1, 1.) 
3. The cover cartilage (epiglottis), which, being inserted into 
a deep notch of the shield cartilage in front, during swallowing 
descends, as you remember, like a lid or valve and closes the 
voice-box and windpipe, so that food passes over it into the 
food-pipe. (Fig. iv, 1 ; Fig. viii, 1, etc.) 
4. The two pyramidal or moving cartilages (arytenoids), 
which are placed with a hollow base upon corresponding con- 
vexities on the top of the basis cartilage behind ; (Fig. viii, 5 ; 
Fig. xi, 3) making a ball and socket joint. 
5. The two buffer cartilages (supra-arytenoids), one on the 
top of each arytenoid cartilage, to deaden or distribute press- 
ure, preventing injury to the larynx, especially in swallowing 
hard morsels. (Fig. v, 27 ; Fig. viii, 6.) 
6. The two prop.cartilages (cuneiforms), which hold up the 
folds of the mucous membrane extending one on each side, 32 
THE THROAT AND ITS FUNCTIONS. 
from the arytenoid cartilage to the epiglottis, constituting the 
sides of the upper laryngeal aperture. (Fig. v, 24.) These 
wedge-shaped cartilages help to keep this aperture patulous. 
Occasionally these are missing in the human larynx, especially 
when the aryepiglottic folds are tense without them, on account 
of great development of the arytenoid cartilages. 
The exceptional pair of cartilages (sesamoid cartilages), are 
situated at the upper lateral edge of the arytenoids, (Fig. 
viii, 7, 7) and when present facilitate somewhat the action of the 
muscles that pull the epiglottis backward. 
The anatomical name of each of these cartilages may be re- 
membered by the following mnemonic device. Think of writ- 
ing the word “ Coffee,” and after having written a capital C as 
the first letter, change your mind and write 11 tea ” in capitals ; 
then add the small letter “ c ” for cream and “ s ” for sugar 
and another “ s ” for an exceptional larger quantity of sugar 
than that taken by most people. (See Diagram, Fig. ix.) 
Fig. IX. Diagram of Cartilages and Intrinsic Muscles of the 
Larynx. 
Then, C stands for cricoid, the basis cartilage ; T for THE THROAT AND ITS FUNCTIONS. 
33 
thyroid, the shield cartilage ; E for epiglottis, the cover car- 
tilage ; and A for arytenoid, the moving cartilages ; these are 
the large cartilages, the small c stands for cuneiform, the 
prop cartilages ; s for supra-arytenoid, the buffer cartilages ; 
and the additional s for sesamoid, the exceptional cartilages. 
By uniting the three lower letters by lines, drawing a trans- 
verse line behind the A, and uniting its terminus with the 
lower letter C,—five of the intrinsic muscles of the larynx, 
which are the most important ones concerned in phonation, 
may also be easily remembered. They are : i, the anterior 
(thyro-cricoid) muscles ; 2, the interior (thyro-arytenoid) mus- 
cles ; 3, the transverse (arytenoid) muscle ; 4, the lateral (lateral 
crico-arytenoid) muscle ; and 5, the posterior (posterior crico- 
arytenoid) muscles. All these except the arytenoid or trans- 
verse muscle are in pairs, i.e., situated on each side of the 
larynx ; and it is seen that all of them except the thyro-cricoid 
or anterior are inserted into the arytenoid cartilages. Of the 
functions of these various muscles it suffices here to say that 
the posterior muscles by their contraction widen the space in 
the interior of the larynx as I shall explain presently, while all 
the others narrow it. 
The interior of the larynx is somewhat hour-glass shaped, 
(see Fig. x). It is divided into two cavities, an upper and a 
lower, by two horizontal lateral projections which have a slit 
or cleft-like space between them. These lateral projections 
. are the reeds of the vocal organ, called the vocal cords, or, 
more properly speaking, vocal bands (see Fig. x, 9); and the 
slit or opening between these projections is the vocal chink or 
rima glottidis. 34 
THE THROAT AND ITS FUNCTIONS 
Fig. X. View of the interior of the larynx, the posterior 
HALF BEING CUT AWAY 
I, i the greater horns of the hyoid bone, cut across ; 2 
thyroid cartilages, 3 cricoid cartilages, 4 first ring of 
the trachea ; 5 the thyro-hyoid membrane, 6 upper por- 
tion of the epiglottis, 7 cushion of the epiglottis ; 8 ven- 
ticular fold, showing above it the wedge-shaped space of 
the upper laryngeal cavity; 9 left vocal band, a, b, c 
showing the different portions of the interior muscle ; the 
muscular tissue above belongs to the muscles affecting the 
position of the epiglottis. The wedge-shaped space 
of the lower laryngeal cavity is well shown. THE THROAT AND ITS FUNCTIONS. 
35 
This chink is correctly enough termed rima giottidis, literally 
chink of the glottis, but some call it simply glottis, although 
that word being derived from “ glotta” meaning tongue, would 
be more appropriately applied, as Galen did, to the projec- 
tions themselves than to the opening between them. The 
action of the five muscles that I have described to you is ex- 
erted upon these lateral projections or vocal bands. The pos- 
terior muscles are abductors of the vocal bands, i.e., they draw 
them apart and thereby widen the chink between them ; the 
anterior, interior, transverse and lateral muscles are adductors 
of the vocal bands, />., they bring about (together with other 
effects, such as variations of tension and of length and thick- 
ness), more or less approximation of the lateral projections, 
and thereby narrow and even obliterate the chink. 
The hour-glass shape of the interior of the larynx is pro- 
duced as follows : The upper surface of the projections is 
horizontal; but from its free edge, each projection slopes ob- 
liquely downward, so that the space below is wedge-shaped, with 
the point upward. Above the projections, the lining of the cavity 
i.e., both the elastic and the mucous membrane, is tucked in as 
it were, or folded upward, to form a hood or pouch in each side 
wall of the larynx. The pouch is conical in form and slightly 
curved from before backward, resembling a “ phrygian cap ; ” 
it is called the sacculus of the larynx. The entrance to the 
sacculus, an oblong fossa situated along nearly the whole length 
of and just above each lateral projection, is called the ventricle 
of the larynx ; and the fold of the membrane which is tucked 
in and forms the upper boundary of the ventricle is called the 
ventricular fold. The sacculus on each side being more or 36 
THE THROAT AND ITS FUNCTIONS. 
less filled with air, the fold which is its inner wall is, of course, 
pushed more or less inward and upward ; therefore the space 
above the projections is wedge-shaped as well as the space 
below, but with the point downward. The double valve 
arrangement in the interior of the larynx to which I have 
already alluded as controlling the conduction of air is thus 
constituted. The lower valve, formed by the more or less 
approximated lateral projections (vocal bands), obstructs or 
Fig. XI. Vocal portion of the elastic membrane of the larynx, 
IN CONNECTION WITH THE CARTILAGES, SEEN FROM ABOVE. 
I. i Section of the thyroid cartilage ; 2 cricoid cartil- 
age, 3 right arytenoid cartilage ; 4 crico-arytenoid liga- 
ment ; 5 elastic membrane of the larynx; 6, 6 duplica- 
tions of the elastic membrane, seen to extend from 7, the 
anterior vocal process to the two posterior vocal pro- 
cesses, which are the most anterior projections of the ary- 
tenoid cartilages. These duplicatures or folds contain 8, 8 the 
two anterior vocal nodules, and 9, the two posterior vo- 
cal nodules. Having on each side the interior muscle fill- 
ing up the space to the lateral walls and being covered with 
mucous membrane, they constitute the vocal bands. THE THROAT AND ITS FUNCTIONS. 
37 
regulates the entrance of air, while the upper valve, formed 
by the ventricular folds, obstructs or regulates the exit of air. 
About 140 years ago a French physician, Ferrein, gave the 
name "'chorda vocales ” to the lateral projections in the interior 
of the larynx because he imagined their action to be analogous 
to that of tensioned strings. This name was unfortunately 
universally adopted and has survived the erroneous hypothesis 
on which it was founded. They are still called in English “ vocal 
cords ” in French, “ cordes vocales,” in German, “ Stimm-bander." 
They certainly act like a tongue of a reed-pipe and not like 
musical strings or cords. I tried to reestablish a more correct 
name, such as vocal reeds, vocal tongues, lips of the glottis, or 
simply glottes, names that had been used ages ago ; but finding 
it impossible to displace the Latin appelation mentioned, I 
have, in correspondence with the German word “ Stimm-band,” 
called them vocal bands, a designation that has found favor 
with several writers on the subject. 
Each vocal band consists chiefly of its muscle, which is the 
interior or thyro-arytenoid muscle, and elastic tissue, which is 
a duplicature of the elastic membrane of the larynx, (see Fig. xi, 
6) and a covering mucous membrane. It extends from the 
anterior vocal process, which is a little projection on the inside 
of the “Adam’s apple,” (Fig. xi, 7) to the posterior vocal pro- 
cess which is a little projection at the base of each mov- 
ing or arytenoid cartilage. Near the free edge, its front 
portion usually contains, especially in the male larynx, a small 
dense nodule, which I call the anterior vocal nodule, (Fig. xi, 8), 
and its posterior portion, more often in the female than in the 
male sex, an elongated nodule which I call the posterior vocal 38 
THE THROAT AND ITS FUNCTIONS. 
nodule, (Fig. xi, 9). As the two vocal bands are attached in 
front in close contact and behind to two separate cartilages, the 
space between them must, when uninfluenced by muscular 
action, be of triangular form, (see Fig. xi). This position of 
the bands, which is the one found in the dead subject, is called 
the cadaveric position. When the bands are moved further 
apart, the base of the triangle is lengthened ; when they are 
approximated, they become parallel and, then finally, the tri- 
angular space disappears. The manner of their adduction and 
abduction may be illustrated by supposing two fingers, say 
the middle and index, to represent them. The juncture of the 
fingers with the hand then represents the anterior angle of 
attachment of the vocal bands, the so-called anterior 
commissure, (Fig. xvi, 1). Supposing the fingers to be of the 
same length, the finger-nails would represent the place of pos- 
terior attachment, viz., the posterior vocal processes ; let these 
be moved apart as far as possible and we have the position of 
greatest abduction something like that represented in Fig. xvii 
the more these are brought together or adducted, the more 
nearly parallel the fingers become and, of course, the more 
narrow becomes the space between them, representative of the 
rima glottidis. 
You know musical cords or strings, as those of the guitar, 
violin, etc., are attached only at their two ends, so that they 
can freely vibrate between ; the tongues or reeds of organs, 
accordeons, clarionettes and all other artificial reed instru- 
ments, are usually attached at one end only, so that they have 
three free edges ; but the human reeds or vocal bands are 
attached on three sides and have only one free edge. Those THE THROAT AND ITS FUNCTIONS. 
39 
of you who know what a large number of reed or organ pipes 
are needed in the organ made by man, to produce the notes of 
varying pitch and timbre, cannot fail to be struck with aston- 
ishment at the fact that in the organ in man’s body a single 
reed-pipe, the larynx—by a wonderful power of variation in- 
herent in itself—suffices for the production of the most various 
sounds. No musical instrument has ever been constructed by 
man that approaches in perfection or effectiveness that of the 
human voice. 
Now, there is hardly any subject on which physiologists have 
differed more than they have, until recently, on the precise pro- 
duction of the voice. At the present day, however, it is per- 
fectly understood and this is principally due to the introduction, 
about twenty years ago, of an instrument by which we can 
watch the whole process in living working order. This instru- 
ment is called the laryngoscope. The introduction of the 
laryngoscope we owe in the first place to the observations upon 
himself of the celebrated singing teacher Garcia, now living in 
London, and in the second place, to the independent investiga- 
tions of two Austrian physicians, Turck and Czermak. 
I doubt not, ladies and gentlemen, you will be astonished 
when I make you acquainted with the wonderful instrument, by 
the aid of which we can see and touch interior portions of the 
body that were heretofore impenetrably veiled from mortal 
gaze. This instrument has entirely revolutionized human 
knowledge of the throat in health and in disease. Its intro- 
duction is unquestionably “ the most important improvement 
recently made in practical medicine.” It has frequently ena- 
bled us to relieve suffering, to save life, to remove tumors 40 
THE THROAT AND ITS FUNCTIONS. 
which were the threatening yet 
unsuspected sources of sud- 
den death, and to effect the 
miracle of making “the deaf 
to hear, and the dumb to 
speak.” Yet the instrument 
and its employment are ex- 
ceedingly simple. The essen- 
tial apparatus is only a little 
looking-glass (see Fig. xii). 
In the words of Czermak, “ a 
small flat mirror, having a long 
stem and being previously 
warmed, to prevent its being 
tarnished by the breath, is in- 
troduced into the mouth, wide- 
ly open, as far as its back 
part. It is then held up in 
such a manner as to permit 
rays of light to fall upon it, to 
illuminate on the one hand the 
parts to be examined, and, on 
the other, to reflect the images 
of those parts into the eye of the 
observer.” (see Fig. xiii) The 
warming of the little mirror is a 
necessary procedure, because 
the moisture of the expiratory 
breath otherwise condenses 
Fig. XII.—Laryngeal mirror, 
ONE-HALF OF ACTUAL DIMENSIONS ; 
AND THREE MIRROR SURFACES OF ACT- 
UAL SIZE. THE THROAT AND ITS FUNCTIONS. 
41 
upon it and dims its surface ; it is therefore dipped into watei 
of the proper temperature and then dried, or better still, is 
warmed over a flame. In the latter case, as I pointed out 
many years ago, a film first gathers upon the mirroring surface, 
then clears away, and this is just when the mirror is ready for 
use; neither too cold to be dimmed nor too hot to be unpleas- 
ant to the throat. 
The manner in which reflection in the mirror enables us to 
inspect the interior of the larynx may be illustrated by placing 
Fig. XIII.—Manner of holding the tongue and the laryngeal 
MIRROR. 42 
THE THROAT AND ITS FUNCTIONS. 
the thumb behind the closely approximated fingers of the 
hand ; a beholder from the front cannot see the thumb-nail, 
although he can look in a horizontal direction beyond the 
hand ; but by means of the mirror held obliquely above it, the 
thumb-nail is readily brought into view. In the same way, on 
looking directly into the throat, we can see only in a hori- 
zontal direction ; but by means of the little mirror we can look 
“round the corner,” or in a vertical direction, down into the 
windpipe. This is on the same principle as that of whi<?h some 
ladies avail themselves who have a mirror placed on the outside 
of the front window upstairs, to reflect the image of the street 
into the room, so that they can see who passes and who rings 
the bell, and be “at home” or “out,” as they may please to 
instruct the servant, without danger of being themselves seen. 
When we cannot sufficiently illuminate the mouth by the di- 
rect rays of the sun or other light, we must reflect light into the 
cavity. This is done by a concave mirror, and thus our laryn- 
goscope is complete. I have combined these mirrors into a 
simple and efficient instrument for practical purposes, which is 
known in the profession as “ Elsberg’s pocket laryngoscope.” 
I have also had constructed a complete apparatus for arti- 
ficial illumination, admitting of being attached to a gas—pre- 
ferably argand burner—drop light, a so-called German student 
lamp, or any other convenient lamp (see Fig. xiv), which is a 
modification of Tobold’s laryngoscopic arrangement. 
Every singing teacher and elocutionist ought to practice the 
method of laryngoscopy. To physicians, called upon to treat 
diseases of the throat, it is indispensible ; although I cannot 
deny that there are some who have failed to make themselves THE THROAT AND ITS FUNCTIONS. 
43 
Fig. XIV.—Manner of using the complete laryngoscopic apparatus. 
sufficiently familiar with it. In abnormal conditions, obstacles 
sometimes present themselves, making a thorough inspection 
difficult ; but ordinarily, in health, it is so easily accomplished 
that no one interested, professionally or as an amateur, in the 
cultivation or proper use of the voice for either singing or 
speaking, need to forego the important information and the 
indescribably great satisfaction which it grants. Any intelli- 
gent person, with ’ an expenditure of less than an hour’s time, 
and not much more than a dollar in money for the purchase 44 
THE THROAT AND ITS FUNCTIONS 
of a. laryngoscopic mirror, may learn to inspect his own or 
another’s larynx. The little mirror introduced into the mouth 
as shown in Fig. xiii is the only essential apparatus needed to 
examine some one else ; to look at one’s self, one needs, of 
course, in addition a larger mirror, to reflect the image of the 
smaller one. In Fig. xii are represented the actual sizes of the 
mirrors I ordinarily employ ; the smallest usually for children. 
The larger the mirror which the throat is taught to tolerate, the 
more light it throws upon the part, and the more complete i« 
the image obtained. Over-sensitivensss of the throat may be 
overcome by touching frequently the various portions of it with 
my “throat educator,” made of wood or hard rubber, (Fig. xv). 
Fig. XV.—Throat educator, one-half actual size. 
Suppose you are standing or sitting with your back to 
a window, through which the sun-light enters, with a 
looking-glass in front of you so arranged that you see the illu- 
minated interior of your widely opened mouth. If then, i,) 
you protrude and either with your will-power alone or with 
this combined with the thumb and index finger of one hand 
covered by a handkerchief (as is shown in Fig. xiii), hold the 
tongue out and downward, while' it is made to lie as flat as 
possible on the floor of the mouth ; and 2,) you introduce with 
the other hand the little mirror, previously (as I have already 
described to you) warmed, and rest its back against the uvula, 
at the same time that, breathing quietly and deeply, you utter THE THROAT AND ITS FUNCTIONS. 
45 
with each expiration a high-pitched sound “ai ” (as in the word 
fair) ; you will, provided you depress or raise the handle of 
the mirror, or turn it a little more to one side or the other, as 
may be required, see the image of your larynx. 
“ If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.” If you can 
Fig. XVI. Image of the larynx and surrounding parts, twice 
THE ACTUAL SIZE. 
i, Base of the tongue ; 2, epiglottic fraenum or middle 
glosso-epiglottic ligament; 3, vallecula ; 4, epiglottis; 
5, cushion of the epiglottis ; 6, lateral glosso-epiglottic 
ligament ; 7, anterior and 8, posterior commissure of 
the iarynx ; 9, rima glottidis; 10, vocal band ; n, ven- 
tricular fold; 12, ventricle ; 13, posterior vocal process; 
14, arytenoid cartilage ; 15, supra-arytenoid cartilage; 
16, cuneiform cartilage ; 17, ary-epiglottic fold ; 18, pos- 
terior laryngeal wall, entrance to the oesophagus ; 19, pyri- 
form sinus ; 20, hyoid fold of mucous membrane. 46 
THE THROAT AND ITS FUNCTIONS. 
get some one who has already had some experience in laryngo- 
scopy (literally, the inspection of the larynx) to show you the 
image of his or of your own throat, you will learn the method 
very much more easily ; but if you must be your own teacher, 
you will certainly acquire it by carefully repeated examinations 
of your own and some one else’s throat. To examine another 
by direct sunlight, you can dispense with the looking-glass and 
put him in the place of it (of course guarding-his eyes from 
the sun’s rays if they prove annoying). But it is pleasanter to* 
examine with reflected light. To do this most simply, use my 
pocket laryngoscope which, being provided with a plane glass 
reflector, one concave one of short focal distance and another 
concave one of longer focal distance, held in the hand or 
attached either to the handle of the mirror or by means of a 
band or spectacle-frame to the forehead, is adapted to either 
sunshine, diffuse daylight or an artificial light. To use the 
complete laryngoscopic apparatus (see Fig. xiv) seat the person 
to be examined opposite to you in such a way that his right 
elbow can rest upon the edge of the table on which the lamp 
carrying the apparatus is placed. The centre of the illu- 
minating rays, your own eye and the patient’s mouth must 
be on about a level. To examine your own throat with 
the same apparatus, take the place of the person to be ex- 
amined and place a looking-glass where your own eye was 
before. 
Sometimes you can see through the open vocal chink into 
the windpipe; sometimes as low down as the bronchi, as 
exhibited in Fig. xvii. THE THROAT AND ITS FUNCTIONS. 
47 
Fig. XVII. laryngoscopic image showing the bifurcation of the 
TRACHEA. 
T, tongue; e, epiglottis; ec, cushion of the epiglottis; 
vb, vocal band; vf, ventricular fold ; vM, ventricle of the 
larynx ; tr, trachea ; br and b'r\ right and left bronchi. 
The following three pictures represent cases of disease. 
The first (Fig. xviii) shows the vocal bands of a lady with a 
Fig. XVIII. Larynx of patient with double voice. 
double voice, that is each sound of her ordinary conversational 
voice, and still more each note that she attempted to sing, was 48 
THE THROAT AND ITS FUNCTIONS. 
accompanied by a deeper, man-like sound, varying on the 
descending scale from being a second to a major third, or even 
a fourth or discordant sixth, of the higher one. The second 
picture (Fig. xix) shows the development in the vocal bands of 
a disease which is exceedingly common in this country in the 
eyelids, namely, trachoma or chronic granulations. 
Fig. XIX. Trachoma of the vocal bands. 
The third picture (Fig. xx) shows the condition of the 
larynx of a young lady who had lost her voice conipletely for 
years, as a single look at the immense growth filling up the 
whole space will easily make you understand. 
Fig. XX. Tumor growth in the larynx. THE THROAT AND ITS FUNCTIONS. 
49 
None of these diseases could have been recognized, much 
less properly treated, without the aid of the seemingly insig- 
nificant, but really in its achievements grand and glorious 
apparatus, the little looking-glass. Death would inevitably 
have soon overtaken, for instance, the growth of this tumor, 
then only might it perhaps have been revealed. The laryn- 
goscope enabled me to see it during life, to remove it and 
to cure the patient, who is probably in the audience this 
evening 
Now we come to the question : “ How does the throat 
enable us to talk and to sing ? ” 
When any vocal sound is to be produced, no matter what 
is to be its loudness, pitch, quality or character in any respect, 
the vocal bands are made to approach each other ; the air, 
expelled from the lungs, strikes against them from below and 
drives them upward ; some air escapes, and the vocal bands, 
being very elastic, descend down to and below their previous 
level, then they go up again, and continue for a time to 
oscillate upward and downward. This up-and-down motion 
or vibration, occurring with appropriate frequency, is per- 
ceived as sound. Wherever there is such vibratory motion, 
there is sound, and wherever there is sound there is such 
vibratory motion. The statement that “ sound ” and “ a par- 
ticular mode of motion ” are identical—one and the same 
thing—I shall try to make clear to you. Often the vibrations 
of a sounding body can be seen, as for instance those of a 
tensioned string like that of a guitar or violin : if I pluck the 50 
THE THROAT AND ITS FUNCTIONS. 
string of this monochord to one side, it rebounds and the 
vibrations constitute a sound. So far as our ear is concerned, 
the vibrations to be heard must occur at least sixteen times in 
a second, and not over 38,000 times. 
The number of proofs and illustrations that can be given 
that sound is really nothing but to-and-fro motion within the 
limits indicated, is inexhaustible, but a few striking ones will 
suffice. 
A tuning-fork can be made to give evidence on this* point 
that is unmistakable and convincing. I have attached a little 
metallic pin to this tuning-fork (Fig. xxi) in such a way that 
Fig. XXI. Autograph of a sounding tuning-fork. 
if I draw it across this paper, it will make a straight line ; but 
the moment the tuning-fork is made to emit a sound, the line 
becomes a wavy one, thus testifying to the to-and-fro motion 
of the prong. In order that this evidence may appeal to all of 
you, I will have this experiment repeated, and the line, made 
by a sounding tuning-fork on smoked glass, thrown upon the 
screen. 
You shall now have a proof that the sound of the human 
voice is vibratory motion also. I have here a glass tube closed 
at one end by a thin membrane carrying a little piece of look- 
ing-glass, the image of which can be thrown up on the screen. 
On speaking into the other end of the tube, the vibrations of THE THROAT AND ITS FUNCTIONS. 
51 
tne air communicated to the membrane will make the little 
mirror move as you now see on the screen. 
These experiments, which had been known a long time, sug- 
gested, about twenty years ago, to the Englishman Scott, the 
invention of an instrument which he called “ phonograph ” or 
“ sound writer.” This instrument, a little modified and per- 
fected by the accoustical instrument maker, Koenig, of Paris, 
I have here to show you. 
Here is a hollow truncated tone, at the smaller extremity of 
which a membrane with a writing pen is attached in such a 
way that it can be brought near to a revolving cylinder upon 
which smoked paper is rolled. On speaking into the cone, 
the membrane and pin are moved to make impressions upon 
the smoked paper, just as in the two experiments seen on the 
screen. 
I have shown you that wherever we produce sound, we have 
a vibratory or to-and-fro motion. Now I will prove to you 
that wherever we produce a rocking or to-and-fro movement, 
repeated with proper rapidity, we have sound. 
P ig. xxii.—Singing bar of copper placed on block of lead. 
Here is a block of lead upon which I place this heated bar 
of copper. At .the point where the hot copper touches the 
lead, this becomes heated and expands, tilting the bar away ; 
the bar then touches the other side of the lead and is pushed 52 
THE THROAT AND ITS FUNCTIONS. 
away, falling back upon the first side ; is tilted again, and so 
on. Thus a rocking or to-and-fro movement results which 
you hear as a singing sound. 
I cannot conceive of a more convincing proof that sound is 
a mode of motion, except one other proof, which I will give 
you at the end of the lecture. 
It is clear then that the up and down movement of the vocal 
bands produces a sound , but that alone does not constitute 
the voice. The up-and-down movement of the vcffcal bands 
sets the column of air to dancing up and down ; the sound of 
these vibrations combines with that of the bands, and the 
sound of these combined vibrations, made more intense, mixed 
with various noises and changed in timbre in the passage of 
the air outward, through the mouth and nose, constitutes the 
voice. The sound of a column of air thrown into dancing or 
vibratory movement is easily illustrated in a glass tube or in 
any flue organ pipe. 
As I have here two organ pipes tuned alike, I can demonstrate 
to you a very interesting acoustic phenomenon, although, it does 
not exactly belong to the subject. I refer to the production 
of musical beats. Both of these pipes give the sound of middle 
C, of 256 vibration, when I throw the air in each into 
vibrations by means of the bellows, the air makes 256 vibra- 
tory movements in a second. By a little slide-valve arrange- 
ment here, I can change the rate of vibration, as I now do, of 
one of these pipes. 
One of these pipes makes a few vibrations more than 256 in 
a second, and the difference between them you hear as beats. 
(Consider this experiment done in parenthesis, but it is really THE THROAT AND ITS FUNCTIONS. 
53 
very instructive, and is the foundation for understanding the 
whole subject of musical harmony and dissonance). 
If you will have the patience to hear how the throat and 
adjacent assistant organs of voice and speech produce the 
variations of loudness of pitch, of timbre and of vowel and 
consonant sounds, I will tell you briefly : 
1. Differences in loudness are mainly produced by differ- 
ences in strength of the air current that is thrown against the 
vocal bands ; by this means the distance or space through 
which they swing up and down is made to become more or less 
extensive. You will readily understand how on this extent of 
swing (or amplitude of the vibration) intensity of sound de- 
pends. If I pluck this tensioned string of the monochord 
only a little out of its state of rest, the extent of its to-and-fro 
movement, or the amplitude of vibration, will be little, and 
therefore the sound not loud ; but if I increase the extent of 
swing, the sound will be louder. 
Again, if in this bell, the sound of which is made by the 
particles of metal moving in and out, I tap the surface gently, 
the particles move only a small distance in and out, but if I 
strike it hard, the extent of their swing is larger, and conse- 
quently the sound is louder in this case than in the former. 
2. Differences of pitch depend on differences of the num- 
ber of vibrations that occur in a given space of time. The 
more numerous they are in a second, the higher is the pitch ; 
the fewer the vibrations that occur in a second, the lower or 
graver the sound is. 
I hold a card against a revolving toothed wheel (see Fig. 
xxiii), and the faster it turns, the more taps occur in a 54 
THE THROAT AND ITS FUNCTIONS. 
second, the higher is the sound. If I lessen the speed the pitch 
falls, and if it turns very slowly you can 
hear the separate taps. 
The siren is an instrument with which 
we can count the taps or vibrations. 
Essentially, it consists of a perforated 
disk against one or more holes of which 
a current of air is blown (see Fig. xxiv). 
As an indicator shows the number of 
holes through which the air passes and 
the rate of revolution of the disk, you 
can easily determine the number of vi- 
brations of any sound it makes. 
In the case of the tuning-fork that 
wrote its autograph or phonograph for 
you, all that you would have had to do to find out the pitch, 
Fig. XXIII.—Card 
HELD AGAINST REVOLV- 
ING TOOTHED WHEEL. 
Fig. XXIV. Simplest form of the siren. THE THROAT AND ITS FUNCTIONS. 
55 
would have been to note the time it took to write the line 
and to count the number of angles or points in it. In the 
particular one I used, there were forty-eight points made in 
a quarter of a second ; therefore the sound of the tuning-fork 
is one of 192 vibrations in a second, or a tenor G. 
In chords, pitch varies with the degree of tension and the 
length—the more tense the string -is, the higher is the sound ; 
the less tense, the lower ; and the shorter the string is, the 
higher the pitch ; the longer, the lower. 
In the vocal bands the variations of pitc'h are produced by 
changes of tension, of length, of breadth and shape, and of 
expiratory force. Some persons avail themselves of some of 
these co-acting factors to the exclusion of one or several of 
them ; some persons use different mechanisms under different 
circumstances ; some persons use prominently a factor which 
is not at all or but slightly used by others. The divergence 
of the views of several equally good observers as to how differ- 
ent variations of pitch are brought about, is doubtless due to 
this fact,—a fact entirely ignored by all scientific and lay writ- 
ers on this subject.* 
The lowest C on the piano is a sound of 32 or 33 vibrations’ 
and the highest C one of over 4,000 vibrations in a second : a 
compass of 7 octaves, and most pianos have still a few notes 
more. The range of the voice differs considerably in different 
individuals ; commonly it is not less than one nor more than 
2Yz octaves ; in some great singers it extends to 3 and even 3^ 
* Since the public delivery of this lecture, a book has been'published in 
which this fact has been recognized, viz., Physiologie der Stimme and 
Sprache. Von Dr. P. Griitzner, Hermann's Hand-Buck der Physiologie, 
vol. i, part ii. Leipzig, 1879, p. 112. 56 
THE THROAT AND ITS FUNCTIONS. 
octaves. The entire compass of the human voice exceeds 5 
octaves, for there have been bassos as Grosser, Fischer, etc., 
who could sing the contra F of 40 vibrations with ease and 
power, and sopranos like Carlotta Patti and Christine Nilsson 
go up with ease to the high F of 1,400 vibrations, while the 
“ Bastardella ” and Mrs. Becker of St. Petersburgh could go up 
to and beyond the still higher C of 2,000 vibrations. 
3. Timbre depends on the number and relative intensity 
of component tones mixed with the fundamental tone. This is 
the great discovery of Helmholtz who has invented a means of 
analyzing sounds by so-called resonators. (See Fig. xxv.) I 
have no time this evening to enter into details on this subject. 
It must suffice to say that by simply placing one of these reso- 
nators or analyzers into your ear, you can find out whether the 
tone to which it is attuned, is present or not in a mass of 
sounds ; and, that it has thus been discovered that every ordi- 
nary sound of nature is a composite one, consisting of a funda- 
mental tone, and a varying number of other tones variously 
mixed with this fundamental tone. If Helmholtz had accom- 
plished nothing in science except this invention and this dis- 
covery, his.name would nevertheless forever shine in immortal 
glory ! 
Varieties of timbre of the human voice are brought about by 
Fig. XXV. Helmholtz’s resonators. THE THROAT AND ITS FUNCTIONS. 
57 
variations of the form of vibration of the vocal bands and by 
varying resonance, or co-sounding, of adjunct cavities. 
4. If the sounding breath is not obstructed in its outward 
passage from the larynx, a vowel results. In this case, the cavi- 
ties of the throat, mouth and nose, act simply as the resonance 
pipe of the organ. 
When the nasal cavity takes a particular part in this reson- 
ance, the vowel is nazalized ; otherwise the vowel is pure. 
Variations in the relative size and form of the co-sounding 
cavities, especially of the mouth, produce changes in the char- 
acter of the vowel sounds as ah, a, e, 0, 00. I have placed 
those of the English language upon a large chart. 
To form a consonant sound, the outward motion of the air is 
obstructed by a partial or complete contact of parts of the 
mouth and throat, the degree of obstruction varying from the 
slightest narrowing of the channel to an entire stoppage. There 
are some consonants which do not require the laryngeal voice 
at all, but are produced entirely by sonorous vibrations origi- 
nating in the mouth and throat. We may therefore divide all 
the sounds of speech into two classes : (first) intoned, which 
originate in the specific vocal organ, the vocal bands, and in- 
clude all the vowels and a majority of consonants ; and (second) 
unintoned, embracing the consonants formed by the mouth and 
throat alone, in the production of which the larynx plays the 
part of air-conveying tube simply. According to the parts of 
the mouth and throat, by the approach or contact of which the 
consonant sounds are formed, we may distinguish three classes 
of sounds, namely : first, labials, formed in the first articulating 
region—the lips : second, dento-linguals, formed in the second 58 
THE THROAT AND ITS FUNCTIONS. 
articulating region, namely, the teeth, tip of tongue and anterior 
part of hard palate ; and third, palato-gutterals, formed in the 
third articulating region, namely, the root of the tongue, pos- 
terior part of hard palate, soft palate and pharynx. 
Analogous to the vowels, we have pure and nasalized conso- 
nants. In the pure consonants, as in pure vowels, the nasal 
valve is raised and closed. The nasalized consonant sounds 
have been called resonants. Here the nasal valve is lowered 
and open ; they are n, ng. In this diagram I show you a 
schema of the three regions of articulation and a view of the 
consonants formed in each. The mechanism of m and p is the 
most simple. The child, even the deaf from birth, learns to 
make these sounds most easily. You may observe in the chart 
that the main difference in the organs of speech between these 
two consists in the open or closed condition of the nasal valve. 
They are formed in the first region of articulation—the lips ; 
and the other organs are but little different from their natural 
position at rest. The lips need only to close and then to open 
to expel the air ; p will be heard when the nasal valve is 
closed, and m, when it is open. 
The imitation of the words “papa” and “mama” in speak- 
ing dolls, is produced by a mechanism which I here show 
you. 
Many more serious attempts have been made to produce 
artificially the sounds of human speech. The earliest was that 
of Kratzenstein just one hundred years ago. He was followed 
as to an apparatus producing vowel sounds by Willis, and more 
recently by Helmholtz. 
More complete talking machines were constructed by THE THROAT AND ITS FUNCTIONS. 
59 
Kempelen and by Faber. Faber’s talking machine was brought 
to this city about eight years ago, and for several years was ex- 
hibited in various parts of the country by a nephew of the 
original inventor, Joseph Faber, of Vienna. It imitates the 
human voice and speech organ in its construction, and being 
worked by means of a bellows and finger board, it can produce 
words and sentences in several languages with varying degrees 
of loudness, even to whispering, and with varying pitch. Still 
more recently a machine has been invented for reproducing 
instead of producing the human voice. This is the phonograph 
devised by Thomas A. Edison. Edison’s phonograph differs 
from the phonographs I have described to you essentially in 
this, that instead of smoked paper or smoked glass, tin-foil is 
used for receiving the impressions made by the writing pin. 
The cylinder on which the tin-foil is placed, is grooved, and the 
metallic pin pressing against it, when moved by the membrane, 
makes permanent indentations in the tin-foil. It occurred to 
Edison [and it is this that marks the difference between men 
of genius and us common mortals, that all sorts of wonderful 
and unheard-of things, though they be really as simple as the 
indenting of Columbus’s egg, occur to them and not to us], I 
say, it occurred to Edison that the process by which the inden- 
tations were made, might just as well be reversed. The motions 
of the air, called voice sounds, had made the membrane vibrate 
that carried the little pin that made the indentations, as the 
tin-foil was passed by. Now, to reverse the process, the in- 
dented tin-foil was passed by, and as the metallic pin maintained 
its contact with the surface of the tin-foil, it moved, just as it 
had done before. The membrane to which it was attached 60 
THE THROAT AND ITS FUNCTIONS. 
vibrated, and the motions thus communicated to the air, were 
heard as sounds. 
This is a proof that sound is a mode of motion, of which 1 
said that it is still more convincing than the singing copper bar 
which I showed you. You see that Edison’s machine is more 
than a phonograph, or sound writer ; it is really a reproducer 
or regenerator of sound, for which a proper name would be 
“ Palingenophone." This is the name by which it should be- 
come known. Hitherto it has simply been called a phono- 
graph. 
Through the kindness of Mr. Johnson, the secretary and 
manager of the company, that owns the patents and manufac- 
tures the phonograph, or palingenophone, I am enabled to intro- 
duce it to you and to let you hear it speak for itself. 
The indentations made on the tin-foil are not easily effaced, 
and a speech once recorded can be repeated a large number of 
times. The tin-foil may be put away, or sent to any part of the 
world or kept for any number of years ; and thus the words 
and voice of a public speaker, a celebrated singer, or a personal 
friend or relative, alive to-day, may be heard by generations 
“ yet unborn.” 
You may remember the beautiful rhetorical figure of “frozen 
music,” and the story told by the Baron Munchhausen, of blow- 
ing into his trumpet and the notes freezing, so that in a few 
days afterward when a thaw came on, the music was heard. 
All this and more, Edison’s genius has realized. Official Organ Music Teachers’ National Association. 
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less soluble salt of Chlorate of Potash, the objectionable taste is not so apparent, and the 
medicinal effect really just as potent. 
The claims advanced, when we first introduced Chlorate of Potash Tablets to Physi- 
cians, for the increased effectiveness of its administration, by allowing that salt to dissolve in 
contact with the inflamed surfaces, seemed almost an exaggeration; but since that time, the 
Tablets have been so largely used, Practitioners find the therapeutical results in the small 
doses given, more than borne out in the benefit to their patients, demonstrating really, that the 
topical effect and direct action upon inflamed surfaces, can be treated by this mode of pre- 
scribing, as efficiently as local applications on wounds upon the body, thus proving the 
advantages over constitutional treatment. 
We wish to impress upon Physicians, the fact, that these Tablets are simply the pure salts, 
compressed without the addition of any excipient, sugar or gum, in this way avoiding any 
substance that would sheathe the surface and prevent the action of the salts. 
They must not be confounded with the ordinary Lozenges, made by druggists, confec- 
tioners, &c. 
Directions.—Adults should take one every hour or two until relieved, allowing It to 
dissolve slowly in the mouth. Children, half of one as often. 
In addition to the above, we manufacture Compressed Tablets of Chlorate of Potash 
alone, of five grains each, and Compressed Muriate of Ammonia, three grains each, thus 
enabling the practitioner to select the Tablet most strongly indicated. 
JOHN WYETH & BROTHER, 
Manufacturing Chemists, Philadelphia. 
It will give us pleasure to furnish, on application, sufficient of these Tablets to test their 
merits by actual use. MARIANI WINE,” 
“ MARIANI CORDIAL,” 
MARIANI EXTRACT,” FOR TEA, 
“ MARIANI LOZENGES,” 
Etc., Etc. 
Our preparations of “ Erythroxylon Coca ” are carefully pre- 
pared, bottled and boxed at our Paris Laboratory. None sold in 
bulk, to guard against imitations. Indorsed by the most eminent 
physicians throughout Europe and America as the most agreeable 
and effective of Tonics and Stimulants, with especial good effect 
upon the voice and the respiratory and digestive organs. 
MARIANI & COMPANY, 
41 Boulevard Haussmann, Paris. 
50 Exchange Place, New York. DEMONSTRATED SUPERIORITY. 
INTERNATIONAL COTTON EXPOSITION, ATLANTA, GA. 
The Executive Committee of the International Cotton Exposition has examined and accepted the following report of 
the Judges, and decreed an award in conformity therewith : 
Group 27 . 
Class 200 | 
Entry 1707 
Product, REED ORGANS and ORGAN ACTIONS. 
Name and address of exhibitor, K. P. CARPENTER, Worcester, Mass. 
The undersigned having examined the product herein descrilajd, respectfully recommend the same to the Executive 
Committee for award, for the following reasons, viz.: “for sweetness and evenness In tono, ingenious combinations in all 
the arrangements, and action, variety and general excellence in design and workmanship, we recommend tlio highest 
award.'* John L. Jones, 
REPORT ON AWARDS. 
Atlanta, Go., Pee. 31st, 1881. 
Approval of Group Judges 
A. C. Bruco. 
John Mpser. 
Given by authority of the Executive Committee of the International Option Exposition. 
A true copy of the Record : II. T. KIMlJALL, Interior (reneral. 
J. R. Lewis, Secretary pro tern. 
Signature of the Judge. 
HEAL. 
Carpenter’s Organ is the Best. 
The above certificate given under the signature of the judges, “For sweetness and evenness of tone, ingenious combi- 
nations in all the arrangements, action, variety and general excellence in design and workmanship, wo recommend 
the highest award,” is a guarantee, particularly when the fact is taken into consideration that all the principal manu- 
facturers were in sharp competition for tho prize which was here awarded. Purchasers of organs should bear in mind 
that tho cheapest is often the dearest, and that ECONOMY even is secured by buying the best. “What the works are to 
a watch, flic action is to an organ.” and the most careful personal care is given to the action of every instrument made, 
without regard to price. More patents of real improvement ; in the Reed Organs arc owned and Controlled by mo than 
by all other manufacturers combined. They indue.'' Stop Work (the best by far in use), Divided Coupler .Vox Humana. 
Expression Indicator, Upright BeJloWs, beside moro than 30 other patents, trade-marks and copyrights. Every purchaser 
of a Carpenter Organ secures all these improvements without additional cost, and they are to be found in no other 
mn’.e. More than 100 different styles are made, and all are fully warranted. They are the best for the Parlor, the 
Library. the Sunday School, the Church and the Lodge. Comparison (the best test) courted 
MOST RELIABLE DEALERS KEEP THEM. but if any do not have tho “Cakpentek ” to show 
you, write direct to the 'manufacturer for a Catalogue and information aa to where you cun see them DO HO l" l>liy 
any organ until you have examined the “ Carpenter.” catauh:hh vuk« to all 
Address or ca!! on F, P. CARPENTER, WORCESTER, MASS., U. S. A