The plea of humanity and common sense, against two publications : one written by "a physician" incognito, advertised "The stammerer's hand-book," but entitled "A treatise on the nature and causes of stammering;" and the other by Mr. Yearsley, entitled, "Stammering, and other imperfections of speech, treated by surgical operations on the throat" / by James Wright.

Date:
1843
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The plea of humanity and common sense, against two publications : one written by "a physician" incognito, advertised "The stammerer's hand-book," but entitled "A treatise on the nature and causes of stammering;" and the other by Mr. Yearsley, entitled, "Stammering, and other imperfections of speech, treated by surgical operations on the throat" / by James Wright. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

    18/52 (page 18)
    the glottis to close, as it were, by anticipation, i. e. without waiting for the notice, or warning, or contraction of the pharynx The reason, therefore, why the stutterer cannot easily alter the position of the mouth to utter a fresh syllable, and that a vowel, is, in the first place, because the glottis, for the mo- ment, is divested of the power of suddenly opening and acting as a prefix to the voice, and combining its murmur with the action of the pharynx, similar, as I have this moment said, to the tongue of a flute player, which acts as a prefix to a note, and renders it articulate and distinct7; and because the con- traction of the glottis, in this instance, resembles that of the velum, which acts as a preventive to the escape of the breath and voice for the utterance of a mute ; and because the breath and voice being thus stopped, the actions of the lungs, and the ligaments of the glottis, become deranged. Now it is easy to conceive that, in consequence of such derangement, neither a vowel nor consonant can be uttered ; that is to say, unless there be a harmony of action, or motion and force, with regard to the lungs, the glottis, the lips, the tongue against the pa- late, the distension or contraction of the pharynx, the furling up or hanging down of the velum palati, a word cannot be uttered. In complicated instances, more slowness of speech would be of no use ! Unless the organs be in a proper train of action, except there be one uniform consent of action, between the organs of breath, voice, and enunciation, between the organs of the body and the faculties of the mind,—rhythm and length of syllables would be of little avail to the improve- ment of the stutterer, and the permanent removal of his im- pediment. Though all consonants and combinations of consonants, however, are said to be incapable of themselves of being formed into syllables, still some of them, such as “ 1, m, n, r, v,” “ th,” as in “ thee,” and “ s,” as in “ pleasure,” appear to u Vide page 24. t In the instance of having commenced the pronunciation of a diphthong the mouth can easily alter its position to complete the whole ;—thus as oi in “ void, if the stutterer can utter o as in “ or,” he can easily join it to “ i (e) because the latter part of the diphthong has no prefix, but “o” and “e” are joined together by crasis.