_Laryngeal neuralgia_ concentrates itself mainly in the twigs of the superior laryngeal branch of the pneumogastric which are distributed to the arytæno-epiglottidean folds, the epiglottis, and the chordæ vocales; more rarely a neuralgia is developed lower down, within the cavity of the larynx, apparently in one or more of the scanty twigs to the mucous membrane supplied by the recurrent laryngeal. Pure neuralgias of the larynx, like those of the pharynx, are more common in women, and especially in weakly hysterical women, than in men. They are easily excited and greatly aggravated by movements of the parts, and thus it happens that, among men, by far the most numerous subjects of laryngeal neuralgia are found among clergymen, professional singers, and others whose occupation compels them to strenuous and fatiguing employment of the laryngeal muscles. It is rather a singular and striking fact, however, that the so-called "clergyman's sore-throat," which is characterized by most unpleasant sensations, and by a more or less complete loss of voice, is not, in the majority of cases, attended with any distinct laryngeal neuralgia. It seems that a predisposition to neuralgia is a necessary element in the latter affection. FOOTNOTES: [3] "Gunshot Wounds and other Injuries to Nerves." Philadelphia: Lippincott & Co., 1864. [4] _Med. Times and Gazette_, March 26, 1864. [5] "London Hosp. Reports," 1866. [6] "Stimulants and Narcotics," Macmillan, 1854, p. 86. [7] Trousseau, Clinique Medicale. Vanlair, "Des dieffrentes Formes du Nevralgies," Journ de Med. de Bruxelles, tome xl. [8] Amer. Jour. Med. Science. Jan. 1850. [9] "Diseases of the Heart and Great Vessels." Third edition, 1862. [10] _Gaz. des Hop._, 114, 117, 120. 1862. [11] _Wien Med. Presse_, xxiv., 1866; Syd. Soc. Yearbook, 1865-'66, p. 120. [12] Berlin Klin. Woch., 1865; Syd. Soc. Yearbook, 1865-'66, p. 120. [13] See Wahn, _Journ. de Med. et Chir. Prat._ 1854. Also several original and quoted cases in Dr. Handfield Jones's "Functional Nervous Disorders," second edition, 1870. [14] _Journ. de Med. et Chir. Prat._, July, 1862. CHAPTER II. COMPLICATIONS OF NEURALGIA.