remarked, while attempting ventriloquism, seldom uses words in which labial letters occur, lest, we presume, the audience should see his lips move. When he cannot avoid such words, he always dexterously conceals his mouth from the audience; the feigned voice, in this case, is also so modified as to remove the raciness which might indicate that it had a near origin. We say feigned voice, for the performance seems to have much of the same character as falsetto singing: Mathews accordingly, it may be remarked, seldom or never attempts a continued conversation; but confines himself to exclamations, and short questions and answers, very much in the manner of the exhibitions of puppetshows. This, however, will not apply at all to M. Alexandre, who can imitate the frying of an omelette, the calls of a chimney-sweeper's boy seeming to ascend the chimney, &c.

BARON DE MENGEN'S ACCOUNT OF HIS OWN

VENTRILOQUISM.

In 1770, the Baron de Mengen, a Colonel in the Austrian Service, who was a ventriloquist, gave the following explanation of his method of performing: -He pressed, as he said, his tongue strongly against his teeth and his left cheek, circumscribing in this way a cavity containing a volume of air, which for this purpose was kept in reserve in the throat, to

modify the sound of the voice, and make it appear as if it came from a distance. It was of importance, he said, to manage the air taken in by inspiration, and to respire only with the most guarded economy. We confess, that this explanation is to us very far from being satisfactory; for though it cannot be denied that the cavity of the mouth has a great influence on the sounds of the voice, yet we cannot conceive this circumscribed cavity of De Mengen's as any thing better than a German story.

M. LESPAGNOL'S THEORY.

In 1811, M. Lespagnol, a young physician, sustained a thesis before the Faculty of Medicine at Paris, on the subject of ventriloquism. According to him, the whole depends on the action of the membranous curtain between the mouth and the nasal passages, as described above, page 21. In the ordinary voice, he says that one part of the sound passes directly through the mouth, and another through the nasal passages and the nose; so that, to one who is near a speaker, the two sounds strike the ear at the same time; but to one who is at some distance, the sound from the mouth only is heard, and in that case, the voice appears more feeble, and the tone in particular is so different, that we judge chiefly by this of the distance of a sound. The difference, therefore, says M. Lespagnol, between

the near and the distant sound of the voice is, that in the first case, there is a compound of two sounds, while in the second, only that through the mouth is distinguished.

The secret, then, of the ventriloquist, according to these principles, consists in either preventing the nasal sound from being produced or from being heard, which is easily effected by elevating the membranous curtain, or veil of the palate,* as anatomists call it. When this is effected, the vocal sound cannot go into the nasal passages; only the direct sound through the mouth is produced, and from its consequent feebleness and shrillness of tone, it is judged to come from a distance. When

the sound appears to come from a certain place, it is because the performer finds means to direct attention thither; but the voice of itself ought only to have the character of having come from a distance, and that more or less, according as it is more or less prevented, by the membranous curtain, from entering the nasal passages. The performer causes his voice to appear near, or at a distance, at his pleasure, by this management of the veil of the palate. As to the common opinion, that the ventriloquist performs with his mouth shut, M.Lespagnol says it is incorrect; for he articulates, though very

• Velum pendulum palati.

slightly (petitement), and the sound is small and

thin.

The above explanation is the more deserving of attention, that M. Lespagnol was himself a ventriloquist, and could the better describe in what manner he operated. But we think it very doubtful whether he was not himself deceived by his feelings; as it is by no means easy to identify to the mind the internal parts which are in action, while they cannot be externally felt or observed, as must be the case with this delicate management of the veil of the palate.

M. Comte, also a ventriloquist of some celebrity, said that his voice was formed in the ordinary manner in the larynx, but was afterwards modified by the play of the other parts of the vocal apparatus; and by inspiration it is directed into the chest, where it resounds: but to obtain this effect, both force and flexibility of the organ are indispensable. This, however, is too complicated an explanation to be readily understood, and we are far from thinking it near the truth.

M. MAGENDIE'S THEORY.

Man, says M. Magendie, possesses the power of varying indefinitely the appreciable and inappreciable sounds of his voice, and can change at pleasure, in a thousand ways, its intensity and note,

Nothing, therefore, can be easier, than to imitate exactly the different sounds which strike upon his ear; this, indeed, he executes under a variety of circumstances.

It is very common for many persons to imitate perfectly the voice and pronunciation of others. Hunters imitate the different cries of their game, and succeed by these means in attracting them into their snares. The faculty which some persons possess, of imitating different sounds, has been made a profession of by some individuals, who have been supposed to have received from nature an organization different from other men. But this is a mistake; they only possess the organs of speech and voice, well arranged, so that they can readily execute the sounds which they wish to produce.

The principles upon which this art rests, are easy to comprehend. We know, from experience, that sounds are altered by a variety of circumstances; for example, they become weakened, less distinct, and change their tone, when they are at a distance from us. When a man descends into a well, and speaks to those who are above him, his voice does not arrive at their ears until it has undergone several modifications, arising from distance, and the form of the canal which it has passed through. If, then, a person have carefully marked these modifications, and exerts himself to imitate them, after