Anomalies and Curiosities of MedicineGould, George M. (George Milbrey)
Science
Anomalies and Curiosities of Medicine
Gould, George M. (George Milbrey)
Abnormalities, Human; Medicine -- Anecdotes
Abnormalism of the Uvula.--Examples of double uvula are found in the
older writers, and Hagendorn speaks of a man who was born without a
uvula. The Ephemerides and Salmuth describe uvulae so defective as to
be hardly noticeable. Bolster, Delius, Hodges, Mackenzie of Baltimore,
Orr, Riedel, Schufeldt, and Tidyman are among observers reporting
bifurcated and double uvula, and they are quite common. Ogle records
instances of congenital absence of the uvula.
Anomalies of the Epiglottis.--Morgagni mentions a man without an
epiglottis who ate and spoke without difficulty. He thought the
arytenoids were so strongly developed that they replaced the functions
of the missing organ. Enos of Brooklyn in 1854 reported absence of the
epiglottis without interference with deglutition. Manifold speaks of a
case of bifurcated epiglottis. Debloisi records an instance of
congenital web of the vocal bands. Mackenzie removed a congenital
papillomatous web which had united the vocal cords until the age of
twenty-three, thus establishing the voice. Poore also recorded a case
of congenital web in the larynx. Elsberg and Scheff mention occlusion
of the rima glottidis by a membrane.
Instances of duplication of the epiglottis attended with a species of
double voice possess great interest. French described a man of thirty,
by occupation a singer and contortionist, who became possessed of an
extra voice when he was sixteen. In high and falsetto tones he could
run the scale from A to F in an upper and lower range. The compass of
the low voice was so small that he could not reach the high notes of
any song with it, and in singing he only used it to break in on the
falsetto and produce a sensation. He was supposed to possess a double
epiglottis.
Roe describes a young lady who could whistle at will with the lower
part of her throat and without the aid of her lips. Laryngeal
examination showed that the fundamental tones were produced by
vibrations of the edges of the vocal cords, and the modifications were
effected by a minute adjustment of the ventricular bands, which
regulated the laryngeal opening above the cord, and pressing firmly
down closed the ventricle and acted as a damper preventing the
vibrations of the cords except in their middle third. Morgan in the
same journal mentions the case of a boy of nineteen, who seemed to be
affected with laryngeal catarrh, and who exhibited distinct
diphthongia. He was seen to have two glottic orifices with associate
bands. The treatment was directed to the catarrh and consequent paresis
of the posterior bands, and he soon lost his evidences of double voice.
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