OCR Text |
Show THE ORGAN OF VOICE. The larynx is the organ of voice, and is placed at the upper part of the air passage. It is situated between the traches below and the base of the tongue above, and forms that visible projection in the middle part of the neck known as "Adam's apple." Its form is that of a triangular box - narrow below and broad above. It is composed of nine different cartilages, bound together by ligaments and moved by numerous muscles. Below the larynx stretches the windpipe, passing down into the lungs and subdividing like the branches of a tree into the right and left bronchi. The laryngoscope enables us to look down into the larynx and watch its many movements. The image we see in the mirror differs materially from anything else we meet with in our anatomical studies. The epiglottis occupies the highest part of the laryngeal image. Its free border may be watched, alternately rising and falling during the examination. It presents a scroll-like form, and in the middle we see the under surface turned up like a lip. The vocal cords are the next most prominent objects in the image. They stretch from the front to the back of the larynx and are to be seen as two smooth, white bands, standing out in remarkable contrast to the surrounding red structures, alternately approaching and receding from each other as the patient breathes. These two, moving bands once seen will never be forgotten. Right here permit the remark that Laryngology has done many wonderful things in detecting and remedying the defects and diseases of the human voice. Light has been thrown into dark places, slight changes have been readily diagnosed; tumors, ulcerations and abrasions are seen at a glance, and thus every appliance of science is brought to the aid of the most beautiful and fascinating specialty in the whole domain of medicine and surgery. As the statue of Memnon is said to have grown vocal when touched by the first beams of the morning sun, even so has the voice of the dumb broken forth into songs of thanksgiving when set free by the skillful hand of our God-given skill [?]. As the skin covers the body on the outside, so the mucous membrane lines it in the inside, and under certain circumstances they become readily transformed into each other. "This is only a single instance of the marvelous handiwork of Nature, and one may well stand in awe and in wonder when he contemplates the Divine wisdom which has fashioned such an exquisitely fitting garment, woven without seam, adapted by a hundred variations to every office it has to fulfill, covering the body outside and lining it inside, winding at every turn through the intricate labyrinth and inclosing within its folds the strange machinery of life." We not only trace the finger of God upon the stone tables of the earth, the letters and the law of everlasting form, but we see it in every line and movement of this wonderful human frame of ours. - Sanitary News. |