It has a fixed roof formed by what is known as the hard palate, and a movable floor made up of the tongue and lower jaw. When the mouth is closed the tongue comes in close contact with the roof; and back of the hard palate, communication with the nasal cavity (leading to the nose) and the pharynx (back part of the mouth) is further impeded by a curtain of flesh, the soft palate. At the rear of the base of the tongue is a lid, or valve, the epiglottis, which covers the windpipe and protects it in the act of swallowing, the food passing down at the back of the throat. Below this valve is the glottis, composed of two semicircular membranes, forming a small oblong aperture which can be dilated or contracted at pleasure, and by the various vibra¬tory motions of which the tones of the voice are modified. Below this, and at the upper part of the windpipe, is the larynx (commonly known as Adam’s apple). This is composed of four pieces which have the power of playing into each other or of moving together.

Like the bellows of an organ, the lungs furnish the air which is forced up the windpipe and through a chink in the larynx where the sound is produced, the vocal cords vibrating in much the same manner as the reed of a musical instru¬ment to which the larynx may be compared. The tone then passes up into the pharynx, where it is modified at will, and, arriving at the mouth and lips, is shaped into intelligible language.

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