Clinical notes on diseases of the larynx ... / by William Marcet.

  • Marcet, W. (William), 1828-1900.
Date:
1869
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Clinical notes on diseases of the larynx ... / by William Marcet. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Leeds Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Leeds Library.

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    tion will require great muscular exertion, and many words may be altogether dropped. Should the muscles which assist in the relaxation of the cords fail, we may expect the passage from one sound to another to be imperfect, and the sound of the voice will possess too much uniformity.* If the muscles which draw the vocal cords towards each other (adduc- tors) are deficient in their actions, no vibration can take place, and no sound at all will be produced; this being a frequent cause of Aphonia. If the muscles which draw the cords aside, to allow of the passage of air, become paralysed, the state of the voice will dej)end on the con- dition of the tensor muscles ; at all events, a difficulty of breathing will be the result, which may become so severe as to threaten life, and require the ^performance of trache- otomy, a similar result being produced by a spasmodic state of contraction of the tensor muscles, which the abductors cannot overcome. Thus it is that, as a rule, unless the muscles of the vocal cords be all in a healthy condition, the voice will be either altered in pitch or altogether j)revented. The art of singing depends more especially on the possession of the power of using dexterously the laryngeal muscles in the production of sounds in good tune, by causing them to contract precisely to the extent necessary for the production of certain sounds ; they will require exercising first, as the muscles of the fingers do for playing the pianoforte; with beginners, the fingers are stiff, and do not act according to the will, and running over the scale is a slow and laborious pro- cess, because the muscles of the fingers have not yet been taught to act rapidly and independently of each * Paralysis or weakness of the laxor muscles of the vocal cords, is a condition difficult to determine by actual observation.