Most people nowadays are aware that the vibrations of the elastic bands, of which there is one on each side beneath the membrane of the upper part of the larynx, produce the sounds of the voice by their effect on the air issuing from the lungs. Certain qualities of tone, and of course the pitch of a note, are determined by their length and tension, while the special characteristics which make the voice of each individual definitely recognisable are due to the varied forms of the several parts of the throat, nose, mouth, &c., above that level. Again, the "breaking" of the voice of a boy on reaching the threshold of adolescence is due to the mechanical effect of the elongation of the elastic bands above referred to--so-called "vocal cords,"--produced by the forward growth of the cartilages of the larynx which determine the formation of the "Adam's apple." All these simple facts were absolute mysteries previously to the enlightening device of Manuel Garcia. Though Czermak took up the laryngoscope and added to its general feasibility by the introduction of artificial light, it still had many obstacles to overcome, but in this it only shared the common fate of all innovations. A number of the men who bore the heat of the day in the early time of storm and stress are still alive, and must rejoice in the fulness of recognition which their speciality has gained. Intralaryngeal medication and surgery soon followed the discovery of the diagnostic properties, and its principles were extended to the elucidation and treatment of diseases of the parts situated between the nose and throat. Professor Osler has told us that if we take the sum of human achievement in science and the arts, and subtract the work of those above forty, "while we should miss great treasures, even priceless treasures, we should practically be where we are to-day." The achievement of Garcia supplies a striking comment on these hasty words. He was ten years over the limit fixed by the professor when by his invention he opened up a new world to scientific exploration. Subtract the laryngoscope from medicine, and what a gap is left in modern methods of diagnosis and treatment! Before its invention threw light into places which had been dark since the birth of the human race, the larynx was an undiscovered country, and its diseases lay beyond the limits of medical art.