Up to this time all efforts at laryngoscopy had been made with a view to diagnose diseases of the larynx, with the exception of those made by Latour. In the year 1854, however, Signor Manuel Garcia of London, without any knowledge of previous efforts, conceived the idea of studying the changes in the larynx during phonation in his own throat. For this purpose he placed a small dentist's mirror against the uvula and reflected the rays of the sun into his mouth and upon the small mirror by means of a hand-glass held in the other hand. By arranging his position in relation to the sun in such a manner that he could see the reflected image of the small mirror in his throat in the hand-glass, and in it the illuminated image of his larynx, after a few ineffectual attempts his efforts at auto-laryngoscopy were crowned with such success that he was enabled to study the movements of the vocal cords during phonation, and accurately describe the registers of the voice in a paper read before the Royal Society of London in 1855.[11] Although Garcia was the first who practised laryngoscopy successfully, his communication to the Royal Society attracted little attention, and would have been forgotten if it had not been that, in 1857, Tuerk of Vienna, having heard of Garcia's paper, began to use the laryngeal mirror on the patients in the K. K. Algem. Krankenhaus for {21} diagnostic purposes.[12] At first he was not very successful in his attempts, and began to experiment with laryngeal mirrors of different sizes and shapes. While thus engaged Czermak borrowed Tuerk's mirrors, and modified them until he succeeded in the greater number of cases in seeing the vocal cords,[13] using artificial light for illuminating the larynx. Meanwhile, Tuerk continued his experiments, and also succeeded in almost all cases of throat disease which came to his department of the hospital in seeing the interior of the larynx and in treating the lesions. Both Tuerk and Czermak improved their apparatus, and especially the latter, who by substituting artificial light for sunlight, and by inventing a number of different illuminating apparatuses, has given us the laryngoscope in the form in which it is used at the present day. It is but natural that Tuerk should have claimed priority in the successful use of this instrument, and in consequence of this claim a controversy was carried on for a number of years in the medical press between him and Czermak, which at times became quite spirited, but which left Czermak master of the field. In the winter of 1858-59, Madam E. Seiler, having heard of Czermak's experiments, had a laryngeal mirror constructed from his description, practised laryngoscopy successfully on herself and others, among them the writer, with a view to study the physiology of the voice. Her efforts being crowned with success, she was able not only to verify Garcia's observations in regard to the registers, but also discovered