The Talking Deaf Man | Page 4

therefore, if Voice be natural to a Man, though he be
Deaf, because Deaf Men Laugh, Cry out, Hollow, Weep, Sigh, and
Waile, and express the chief Motions of the Mind, by the Voice which
is to an Observant Hearer, various, yea, they hardly ever signifie any

thing by Signs, but they mix with it some Sound or Voice. Thus the
Exclamations of almost all Nations are alike; [_a_] is the Sound of him
chiefly, who rejoyceth; [_i_] of him who is in Indignation, and Angry;
[_o_] of one in Commiseration, or Exclamation; not to mention many
such other-like.
Now I shall briefly declare, wherein the nature of the Voice consisteth,
where it is formed, and how it is formed: I shall also discover, together
therewith, wherein is the difference betwixt Voice and Breath simply,
as what is in truth, of so much weight, that if it be unknown, some Deaf
Persons cannot learn to speak, as shall be taught in the Third Chapter.
Men ordinarily speak after two manner of ways, viz. either when they
may be heard by any one, who is not too far distant from them, and that
is properly call'd _Voice_; or else, when they speak privately in
another's Ear, and then they pronounce a _Breath which is simple, but
not Sonorous_. Deaf Men also do know a Voice to be different from a
_Simple Breath_; for they can speak both ways, and I also have learned
this Distinction partly from them.
The Humane Voice is Air, impregnated, and made Sonorous by the
impressed Character of the Life, or is such, as whilst it is in breathing
forth, doth smite upon the Organs of the Voice, so, as _they tremble
thereupon_; for indeed, without this tremulous Motion, no Voice is
made: Yea, not only the Larynx, or Wind-pipe, doth thereupon tremble,
but the whole Skull also; yea, and sometimes all the Bones of the whole
Body, which any one may easily find in himself, by his applying his
Hand to his Throat, and laying it on the top of his Head. This trembling
is very perceptible in most sounding Bodies, and is (if I mistake not)
owing for the most part to the Springiness of the Air; which, did I not
study to be brief, I could more fully explicate. Now the Simple Breath
is Air, breathed forth by the opening of the Mouth or Nostrils, simply,
and without any smiting on the parts, which rather exciteth a
whispering than a sound. Hence is it, that Animals, whose Wind-pipe is
cut beneath the Throat, do indeed render a Breathing, but no _Voice_;
for the Tube of the Wind-pipe is too large, and too smooth, than that
the Air can strike upon it any where; and being thus reflected on its self,
it can also imprint a tremulous Motion on its neighbouring Bodies: This

the Physicians Pupils do know; who being about to dissect live Dogs,
they cut their Throats, that they may not be troubled with their barking:
For Voice differs as much from a Simple Breath, as doth that hoarse
Sound, which we excite, by rubbing the tops of our Fingers hard upon
some Glass or Table, which is quite differing from that same soft
whistling Sound, which is heard when we lightly rub with the Hand the
same Glass or Table.
The Voice therefore, as it is the Voice, is generated in the _Cartilages of
the Wind-pipe_, then afterwards is formed into such or such _Letters_;
but that it may become a lovely Voice, it's requisite, that those
Cartilages be smooth, and lined with no mucous Matter, else the Voice
will become Hoarse, and sometimes be utterly lost, viz. when they have
lost their Springy power.
For _Pipes_; and other _Wind-Instruments_ do most notably explain to
us the nature of the _Voice_; for in them we see a certain Voice or
Sound to be generated out of Simple Air, whilst it is as it were, rent in
pieces, and forced into a tremulous Motion: Now, that in these
Instruments there is a little Tongue; or which is instead of a Tongue,
the same in a Man is the Epiglott, or Cover of the _Wind-pipe_, and the
Uvula, or Pallate of the Mouth; but the rest of the Cartilages of the
Throat, besides that, they contribute much to the making of the Voice,
yet are they chiefly serviceable to it, in rendering it to be more flat, and
more sharp, and that especially by the Bone of the Tongue, and the
adjoyning Muscles: But I am unwilling to put from this Office the
Muscles which are proper to the _Wind-pipe_; for they all unanimously
conspire to make the Cleft of the Throat either wider, or narrower. But
above all, here is that wonderful Faculty of modifying