Keelhauling

“ When the mouth is opened, their elasticity causes them to straighten out like a bow unbent, so that at whatever distance the jaws are separated the strainer remains in perfect action, filling the whole of the interval. The mechanical perfection of the arrangement is completed by the great development of the lower lip, which rises stiffly above the jaw-bone and prevents the long, slender, flexible ends of the whalebone from being carried outwards by the rush of water from the mouth, when its cavity is being diminished by the closure of the jaws and raising of the tongue. ”

“ The nasal organ is a fish's nasal organ, constructed to smell in water, and the roof of the mouth and front of the skull have been profoundly altered to meet a fresh set of needs in aerial life. The ear-drum, in a precisely similar way, is derived from a gill-slit twisted up to supplement the aquatic internal ear, which would otherwise fail to appreciate the weaker sound-waves in air. ”

“ The sense of smell resides in the nostrils, which have no relation to the work of breathing. No fish breathes through its nostrils, and only in a few of the lowest forms (hagfishes) does the nostril pierce through the roof of the mouth. In the bony fishes the nostril is a single cavity, on either side, lined with delicate or fringed membrane, well provided with blood-vessels, and with nerves from the olfactory lobe. In most cases each nasal cavity has two external openings. These may be simple, or the rim of the nostril may be elevated, forming a papilla or even a long barbel. ”

“ It is simply the anterior specialized portion of the trachea, located at the base of the tongue, and in mammals is honored as the voice organ, whereas in birds it is distinguished as the fluting apparatus, the instrument that really produces the varied vocalization of the bird realm. But the music is not the product of vocal cords, as is the case in the human larynx, for at the upper end of the avian larynx there is a slit or fissure, somewhat elliptical in form, and set in the fork of the hyoid bone, which constitutes the bifurcated root of the tongue. ”

“ There is the same diversity in the mouth as in the intestine. Some fishes, like the skate, have no tongue at all. Others, instead of a tongue, have a hard dry filament, very nearly immovable, and which one would think was put there like a stake, to show the place where the tongue is to be found in the more perfect organisations. There are even fishes, like the perch and the pike, whose tongue is furnished with teeth, or rather fangs; an evident sign that it has forfeited the confidential position occupied by your own good little porter. ”

“ The vocal apparatus is perfected by the addition of the cavities which produce resonance, viz., the pharynx, the mouth, and the nasal fossæ. The pharyngeal cavity, into which open the œsophagus and the larynx, is continuous with the buccal cavity, a hollow box admirably adapted for articulation. Its shape and size are extremely variable. The cheeks constitute walls which can be compressed or dilated with the slightest effort; the lips, which bound the anterior opening, are perfectly mobile; the tongue can be moved in every direction ”

“ All the other sense-organs are situated on the head. The organs of taste are certain so-called taste-buds located in the mucous membrane covering certain papillæ on the surface of the tongue. The organ of smell, absent only in certain whales, consists of a ramification of the olfactory nerves over a moist mucous membrane in the nose. The ears of mammals are more highly developed than those of other vertebrates both in respect to the greater complexity of the inner part and the size of the outer part. A large outer ear for collecting the sound-waves is present in all but a few mammals. ”

“ The modern usage in Dutch and German has approximated to the English. The word kiel is represented in old English by céol, a word applied to the long war galleys of the Vikings, in which sense “keel” or “keele” is still used by archaeologists. On the Tyne “keel” is the name given to a flat-bottomed vessel used to carry coals to the colliers. There is another word “keel,” meaning to cool, familiar in Shakespeare (Love’s Labour Lost, v. ii. 930) , “while greasy Joan doth keel the pot,” i.e. prevents a pot from boiling over by pouring in cold water, &c., stirring or skimming. ”

“ The keel, or carina sterni, is formed as a direct cartilaginous outgrowth of the body of the sternum, ossifying from a special centre. This keel is much reduced in the New Zealand parrot, Stringops, less in various flightless rails, in the dodo and solitaire. It is absent in the Ratitae, which from this feature have received their name, but considerable traces of a cartilaginous keel occur in the embryo of the ostrich, showing undeniably that the absence of a keel in the recent bird is not a primitive, fundamental feature. ”

“ It is impossible to produce good tone with a high larynx. When the larynx rises, the throat closes and you must always have your throat open. Don’t forget, your throat must be open and you can get it open only by keeping the larynx low.” He tries again with the same result and awaits further instructions. I take another tack and say to him, “Your tongue rises every time you sing and impairs the form of the vocal cavity. Keep it down below the level of the teeth, otherwise your vowels will be imperfect. You should practice a half hour each day grooving your tongue.” ”

“ The mouth of the great majority of mammals is peculiar for being guarded by thick fleshy lips, which are, however, absent in the Cetacea; their principal function being to seize the food, for which purpose they are endowed, as a rule, with more or less strongly marked prehensile power. The roof of the mouth is formed by the palate, terminating behind by a muscular, contractile arch, having in man and a few other species a median projection called the uvula, beneath which the mouth communicates with the pharynx. ”

“ The floor of the mouth can only be seen when the tongue is raised, then the reflection of the mucous membrane from the gums to it is exposed. In the mid-line is a prominent fold called the fraenum linguae, and on each side of this a sublingua papilla, on to the summit of which the duct of the submaxillary gland opens. Running outward and backward from this is a ridge called the plica sublingualis, which marks the upper edge of the sublingual gland, and on to which most of the ducts of that gland open. ”

“ The first thing that strikes the observer of its skeleton is the extraordinary structure of the sternal apparatus, which is wholly unlike that of any other bird known. The keel is only developed on the posterior part of the sternum—the fore part being, as it were, cut away, while the short furcula at its symphysis meets the manubrium, with which it is firmly consolidated by means of a prolonged and straight hypocleidium, and anteriorly ossifies with the coracoids. ”

“ We have done with them; we have seen the last of incisors, canines, and molars, henceforth you will hear no more about those valuable instruments. The teeth of the cetaceans, with whom this painful falling-off begins, are no more teeth than his tongue is a tongue. They are like so many nails set in a row in the jaw, and can only be of use in retaining prey, not in grinding it; so that of the many processes your bit of bread has to go through before it becomes a part of yourself, there is one which is dispensed with here altogether, namely, mastication. ”

“ The mouth itself is a large cavity communicating very freely with the exterior, but so completely shut off from the following parts of the alimentary canal that it is difficult to find the orifice of communication; the labium being much modified to form the posterior wall. For the capture of the prey, always living but of various kinds, a mechanism with great holding power and capable of rapid action is required. ”

“ The premaxillary part of the fronto-nasal process separates the nasal cavity from the mouth in front, but behind that the cavity is the rudiment of the mouth and nose which no palate has yet appeared to separate. In Reptiles the hard palate appears, and henceforward the digestive and respiratory tracts only form one passage in the pharynx. In mammals definite lips provided with muscles first appear, though the Monotremes have such specialized mouths that lips are not found in that order. Many monkeys have the vestibule enlarged to form the cheek pouches. (F. G. P.) ”

“ Vivaces.—Keel moderately excentric; valve, according to position, semi-lanceolate, with keel puncta in short rows, or lanceolate with quite central keel. The valves have in many positions a resemblance to Hantzschia, so that N. vivax frequently becomes confounded with a form of H. amphioxys. The median keel puncta are not distant and a central nodule is not evident as is the case in all species of Hantzschia. ”

“ The upper tush, which is now of a brownish hue, may be worn to the gum, and the lower continue long and surrounded by tartar, or both may be reduced to mere stumps. The tongue protrudes greatly; the membrane of the mouth seems hard; and no longer vascular, it is thrown into wrinkles. The edge of the lower jaw is sensibly retracted, and its sides are flattened or narrowed. The general appearance indicates the decay of nature. Here again, however, nothing is positive, save the yellowness of the teeth and the protrusion of the tongue. ”

“ As with harelip, so with cleft palate, the extent of the defect varies greatly in different cases. Thus in the most severe forms, there is a total mesial longitudinal cleft, [6] extending forwards from the tip of the uvula to the level of the anterior palatine canal, thence bifurcating to communicate anteriorly with a double alveolar harelip, the os incisivum or central portions of the intermaxilla being usually displaced forward (Fig. 9) . ”

“ If, on the other hand, the following consonant does not involve a contact (being a semivowel or spirant) , the nasal element is also without contact: it is a nasal utterance with unclosed mouth-organs. The question is, now, whether this nasal utterance becomes merely a nasal infection of the preceding vowel, turning it into a nasal vowel (as in French on, en, un, etc., by reason of a similar loss of a nasal mute) ; or whether it is an element of more individual character, having place between the vowel and the consonant ”

“ Thus the bird's mouthful is far from undergoing as perfect a preparation as ours does. It is no sooner taken in than it is swallowed, and the salivary glands, which are still to be found under the tongue, seem only to be there as a matter of form; what little saliva they produce is thick and sticky, and has none of the qualities necessary for making that liquid paste which our tongue sweeps up from every corner of the mouth. Besides, it must be owned that a bird's tongue would be a very awkward implement in such a task. Open a hen's bill and you will see therein a very inferior sort of porter. ”

“ Pupils who show a tendency to nasalising can be cured by frequent exercises in uttering the mouth (or oral) vowels.
It is, however, maintained by some teachers of voice production that the best vowel sounds are produced when the velum does not quite prevent the passage of air through the nose.
[Pg 16]
In producing a nasal consonant (such as m) , we stop the breath somewhere in the mouth (e.g. at the lips when we utter m) , and let it pass out through the nose. ”

“ Wounding the tongue.—This is most likely to occur under nitrous oxide, as the tongue during anæsthesia is generally swollen, and is, moreover, not under the control of the patient. Wounding the tongue is nearly always due to carelessness, and arises generally in using the elevator. When the tongue is much lacerated, the overhanging portions should be trimmed off with scissors and the surface kept clean with antiseptic mouth washes. If the tongue is punctured and the wound does not involve a large branch of the lingual artery, but yet bleeds freely, the tongue should be drawn forward ”

“ Incorporated with it are five pairs of muscles, controlling its movements; it is covered by a smooth thin mucous membrane, and terminates posteriorly in the uvula. The arrangement of these muscles is important, not only from their normal physiological functions, but also from their irregular action and effects in cases of cleft palate (Fig. 28) . They may be arranged in groups: two, the levator and tensor palati, form a superior group; the azygos uvulæ is intermediate; and the palato-glossus and palato-pharyngeus form an inferior set. ”

“ The lungs are large, but the most extraordinary features are the larynx and nasal passages. The nostrils, often a single crescentic aperture, open right on the top of the head, except in the Sperm Whale, and not in front as in all other Mammalia. In some there are small pouches near the orifice or blowhole of uncertain use. In front of the larynx of man we all know there is an elastic lid, the epiglottis, which folds over and protects the passage as food is swallowed. ”

“ The deformity may exist as a simple notch in the soft tissues of the lip, unilateral (Figs. 2 and 3) or bilateral (Fig. 4) ; when more decided, it may implicate one or both nostrils (Figs. 5, 6, and 7) . In mild cases the alveolus is intact; in others, cleft, constituting the variety known as alveolar harelip, and the line of fissure may, or may not, extend backwards into the palate. In all cases of double alveolar cleft, the palate is also involved, and the central parts of the lip and intermaxilla tend to project forwards ”