An Inquiry into the Nature of a Voice, and in what respect it differs from the Breath.

Let no Man presume, that he shall ever attain to this noble Art, if he remain Ignorant in what it is that the nature of the Letters, as well in general, as special, doth consist; for it was this very thing which gave occasion to the composing of this small Treatise: Wherefore, before I treat of the manner of instructing Deaf Persons, I shall bring into examination, First, the material part of the Letters, viz. Voice and Breath; Secondly, the Letters themselves, and their Differences: Thirdly, and Lastly, I will teach the Practise of the Art.

I have oftentimes heard from some Persons, that it was little beneath a Miracle, that God should give Men, to express the Thoughts of the Mind, rather by Motions, which are effected by the Lips, the Tongue, the Teeth, &c. than otherwise, and that so universally, that there is no Nation so Barbarous, no not excepting the Hottentots, which cannot speak in a Language. But let (I pray) these Men consider, what it is that Men rightly Instituted would have, whilst they mutually talk one with another; for they desire to open the most inward Recesses of the Heart, yea, and to transfuse their own proper Life into others, which thing cannot be more commodiously done, than by Speaking; for there is nothing which floweth forth from us, which carrieth with it a more vivid Character of the Life, than our Voice doth; yea, in the Voice is the Breath of Life, part of which passeth into the Voice; for indeed the Voice is the Child of the Heart, which is the Seat of the Affections, and of Desire. Hence it is, that sometimes we are not able to keep back the impetuous Motions of the Affections; but out of the abundance of the Heart, the Mouth speaketh. Thus, when we desire something in our selves, and yet are afraid to express it, the Heart labours like a Woman with Child, and becomes Anxious; but if we can pour it forth into the Bosom of a Friend, there presently ariseth great Tranquility, and we say, that we have emptied our Hearts: Yea, so full is the Voice of the Life, which immediately flows from the Heart, that to talk long, extreamly wearieth us; but especially the Sick, who oftentimes can scarce utter three or four words, but they faint away. Therefore, to comprehend much in a few words, the Voice is an Emanation from that very Spirit, which God breathed inth Man’s Nostrils, when he Created him a living Soul. Hence also, The Word of God, the Son of God, the Omnipotence of God, &c. are in Holy Scripture oftentimes homonymous, or of the like, and same import.

It is no wonder 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 the Voice, according to Will and Pleasure; which, even as Speech also, is not natural to us, but a Habite, contracted by long Use or Custom. Hence it is, that the Unskilful are not only Ignorant how to Sing, but also cannot so much as imitate others who are Singing; so also such as are ignorant of any Language, do not only not understand others who are speaking that Language, but also do not know how presently to repeat that Voice which they received by their Ears.

Things principally requisite to the Voice, are, that the Wind-pipe, the former thereof be solid, dry, and of the nature of Resounding Bodies. By this Hypothesis, two of the most Eminent Phaenomena’s of the Voice are discovered; why the Voice should then at length become firm and ripe, when the Bones have attained unto their full Strength, and due Hardness, which cometh to pass much about the Years of ripe age, when the vital Heat, doth in a greater degree exert itself: The other Phaenomenon is Hoarsness or an utter loss of the Voice, which is, when the Cartilages, or Gristles of the Throat, especially the Epiglott, or Coverlid of the Wind-pipe, is lined or besmeared all over with a slimy Viscosity, whereby they lose their Elasticity, or Springiness. Now these Symptoms of the Voice are also common to other Wind-instruments, when they become too much moistned by any vapourous wetting Air. The same reason also is to be assigned why the Voice doth at last quite cease in those who have made too long Harrangues, in speaking, and whose Jaws are quite dried with an immoderate Heat; for in both these cases the top of the Wind-pipe is covered over with a clammy Tenacious Phlegm.

There remains yet two other Symptoms of the Voice, which I have undertaken to explicate, viz. why the Voice sometimes leaps from one Eighth to another; and, as it is rightly said by the Vulgar Expression, that it is broken: and why, when we strive to make our Voice either too sharp, or too flat, it at last plainly faileth us. As to the first, let us consider when and how it cometh to pass; and first, it’s what principally happeneth to Orators, when they endeavour to lift up their Voice too high, or strongly; but how this cometh to be, Organ-pipes, and the Monochorde, do teach us, viz. when some Impediment interposing, doth divide the ordinary Sound into two; if therefore those parts are equal, either of them is by one Eighth more sharp than the former Sound, neither are they distinguished from one another; but if they prove to be unequally divided, then two distinct Sounds are made at the same time, whereof one is flatter than the ether, and this is commonly called a broken Voice: But why our Voice should fail us, when we endeavour to make it more sharp, or more flat than it ought to be, the reason is, because we strive either so to contract the Cleft of the Wind-pipe, and to press the Spout-like Cartilage, by help of the Bone of Tongue, towards the Epiglott, that the going forth of the Voice, and of the Breath, may be precluded, or else, on the contrary, because that the said Cleft, through the drawing down of the Cartilages, is so much widened, that the departing out of the Breath, finds no hinderance.

But here I had almost forgot to compare the more dry, the more moist, the more solid, and the more thin Constitution of the Larynx, or Wind-pipe, which also make very much to the rendering the Voice, to be either sharp, or flat. That same humming Noise, which many flying Insects make, not so much by the Wings, (for when they are cut off, the humming still remains) as by a most swift and brisk Motion of certain Muscles, hid in the Cavity of their Breasts, seems to have somewhat of an affinity to the Voice; wherefore I desire the Learned to examine, whether those small Muscles, which are proper to the Cartilages of the Wind-pipe, cannot perform somewhat like to that.

Many more Particulars concerning the Voice might yet further be inquired into, such as, how it is, that every one may be known by his Voice? How that Sound, which in Singing is called Quavering, or Trilling, by a peculiarity, is excited, &c, But seeing that these things do not properly respect the nature of the Voice, I, for Brevities sake, do omit them.