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Ol
S TA M M E R I N G
AND
STUTTERING,
THEIR
247 *
LONDON:
LOXGIMAN, GREEN, LONGIMAN, A.ND ROBERTS,
PATERXOSTER ROW.
MDCCCLXI.
% j
LANGUAGE IS TO THE MIND WHAT BEAUTY IS TO THE
BODY."
TO MY PUPILS.
time.
human frame.
taking root.
subject have met with from the Press, the Medical Pro-
decessors.
JAMES HUNT.
Ore House, near Hastings,
December, 1860.
— —
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
Introduction.
Impediments of Speech a real affliction —Production
of Voice and Speech — The Vocal Cords — The
Organs of Articulation — The Principal Nerves
distributed upon the Vocal and Articulating Ap-
paratus —Alalia and Dyslalia —Synonyms ex-
pressive
languages ......
of Impediments of Speech in various
Page 1
CHAPTER n.
Stammering and Stuttering Defined. ,/
The Meaning of Words — Stammering as contra-dis-
from Stuttering— Stammering and
tinguished its
CHAPTER III.
CHAPTER IV.
Statistics ok Psp:llism.
CHAPTER V.
CHAPTER VI.
CHAPTER VII.
CHAPTER Yirr.
Surgical Operations.
Galen — Aetius — Fahricius Hildanm — Diefferibacli
Summary of Operations
these
CHAPTER IX.
Is PsELLisM A Disease ?
The late Mr. HnnVs Opinion — Gellius-Ulpian —
Organic Defects — Cases—Psellism and Chorea —
Treatment of Chorea in France —Psellism somein
Cases the Cause and not the Effect of Disease, Page 120
CHAPTER X.
System of the late Mr. Hunt and Peactice
OF the Author.
—System of Thomas Hunt—State-
Secret Remedies
ment of Author —Benefit derived from
the the
Appendix A,
—
Memoir of the late Thomas Hunt Dr. Forhes and
Mr. Liston on Mr. Hunfs System Messrs. —
—
Chambers and Forster Death of Mr. Hunt-^
Pretenders to his System ^ . . . Page 156
Appendix B.
Hints to Stammerers ..... Page 167
Appendix C.
CORRIGENDA.
Pace 40.—Heading of Chapter Toa External Influences of
INTEODUCTION
B
—
the bar, the pulpit, the senate, and the chair, and
must strike out for himself some new path for which,
INTRODUCTION.
"
*****
The limbs in their imaginary flight
From shadowy terrors in unhallowed sleep
Production oj Speech.
tory organs.
muscles.
glottis.
plete.
the root of the tongue, the soft palate, and the pha-
rynx are not under our control, but only that they are
jointly."^'
apparatus.
variety of forms.
in various languages.
Battarismos.
douiller.
Spanish. —Tartamudear.
Gaelic. — Gaggach ; gagganach (a stutterer) ; man-
dach (lisping) ; briot (chitter-chatter).
very outset.
individual characters.
fectly.
to produce stammering.
Stutteri7ig.
at the first, and the usual consequence is, that the begin-
consists.
mastered.
t Langhorn's Plutarch.
MINOR DEFECTS OF AUTIOU L-YTION". 21
* " Demosthenes quum ita balbus esset, iit ejus ipsius artis
cui studeret (sc. rhetoricae) primam literam (so. r.) non posset
dicere." Cicero adds, " perfecit meditando ut nemo planius
esse locutus piitaretur."
The Wonders.]
in our age, who could not, for his life, utter Carolus
inhabitants have neither this defect, nor has the " oldest
in the district.
32 STAMMERING AND STUTTERING.
raised, and the soft palate descends, the air can only
quently, unintelligible.
STATISTICS OF PSELLISM.
CoLOMBAT (
Tableau Synopt. 8f
Statistiqtie) assumes
was, that the words did not proceed j-jarZ/Mssw with the
at a successful issue.
siderable influence.
the other perfectly, and the result is, that they find a
the fact.
Injluence of Temperature.
are temperate and moist, and that dry air in frost and
effects.
* *'
Aetna was very furious when we passed, as she useth
to be sometimes more than others, specially when the wind
is southward, for then she is more subject to belching out
Hakes of fii'e, as stutterers use to stammer tnore when the wind
is in that hole. {Howel's letters, 1655.)
—
Psychical Injluences.
the middle of the night the frogs, finding the bed too
thing cold and clammy on his cheek, the lad was dread-
of speech."
loud voice, " silence." His son, aged eight, who was
violently.
interest.
effect :
—A shoemaker in Domschutz, near Torgau,
of Croesus :
—
" Croesus had a son, who was a fine j^outh, but
dumb. Everything had been done for him by his
48 STAMMERING AND STUTTERING.
Croesus !
' This was the first word which he spoke
D
50 STAMMERING AND STUTTERING.
but not walk steadily ; and Astrie had a lady under his
vince myself.
organs.
CHAPTER VI.
First Period,
in the Scriptures.
*'
I am slow of speech and of a slow tongue." He-
brew. —Kebad peh kehad loshun anochi, Greek,
Sept. — Ischnophonos kai bradyglossos ego eimi. Latin,
VuLG. Impeditioris et tardioris linguae sum. ExOD.
Chap. iv. 10.
*'
And the string of his tongue was loosed, and he
of sheep to dwell."
a certain letter ;
quam libet ; but stuttering {psellotes)
also the case with those that stammer, for in these the
varices appear.
speech."
Chap. vi.
— " Those who have a large head, small eyes,
are, if they stammer, subject to auger."
" Stammerers (oitroiloi), and clutterers {tachyylossoi
him to set him right. " You," said he, " have a man-
of the rostrum."
" You speak truly," replied Satyrus, " but I will soon
head, the neck, mouth, and the parts below the chin
heat.
ulcers.
CHAPTER VII.
example of Demosthenes.*
ditae, and many stutters, w^e find, are very choleric men ;
veterate.
SECOND TERIOD. 71
and fencing will render the latter more firm and flexi-
Remarks.
and did not even know whether the latter had been
permanent.
SECOND PERIOD. 75
douloureux or muet.
Remark.
left behind.
Remarks.
terms :
—
" That the following work will communicate, without
it or noty
SECOND PEHIOD. 79
moving it."
Remarks.
are in action.
difficulty."
find that the cause has its seat in the frsenum, I divide
Remarks.
kind.
Arnott observes :
" There are many persons not ac-
Remarks.
stantly by silence.
of imitation, is idiopathic.
Remarks.
exertion.
is uttered.
Eemarks.
impediment.
Remarks.
much attention.
medicines."
*'
In all cases this affection is aggravated by indis-
machinery of articulation.
*'
If the recent observations of Mr. Yearsley prove
empiric.
Remarks.
Remarks.
Hemarka.
^emarlis.
effort which but few are capable of. And if the case
instance, Macbeth
*•
But wherefore could I not pronounce
Amen ? I had most need of blessing and ; Amen
Stuck in my throat
!
'
*
SURGICAL OPERATIONS.
ligature.
hand, says that Mrs. Leigh had advised it, and that it
results.
not less than 200 persons were operated upon within one
impediment returned.
The utility of these operations has been deduced
their treatment.
(
Transverse incision into the upper surface of the forepart of
the tongue.)
cease.
— ;
CHAPTER IX.
IS PSELLISM* A DISEASE?
The plea so long urged by medical authors that
are.f
The fact is, that unless a medical man has for years
impediments of speech.
periodical.
twenty-nine days.
than he did.
*'
The cause is simple enough. Continued depression
not feed the rest of the body : and the man too often
organs.
trade.
practical experience.
apparatus.
who do not care to find them out. Any one who will
And he had far better leave the work to the few (when
that they know his secret. Old 3.1r. Hunt's secret v,-as,
dia.^nosis.
flat one, lie will never find out whicli is which. The
matter is a study by itself; and had Dr. James Hunt,
year ; and the boy who began to stammer with the lip
jaw, and last, and worst of all, with the breath ; and
* Irrationale of SjJoech.
138 STAMMERING AND STUTTEKING.
Treatment.
upon.
circumstances.
mind, v/e have none over the bodily organs under its
stance, that with all his reading and talents he did not
after, carried off the prize as the best reader of his year,
excellence.
*
No\y it is not exactly requisite minutely to explain
fluency of speech.
CHAPTER XI.
cure of stammering.
*' And here I say boldly that the stupidity and cruelty
it. They are asked, " Why cannot you speak like
it utterly intolerable."*^
* Irrationale of Speech^
MANAGEMENT OF CHILDREN. 149*
Elocution,
least durable ;
" I have certainly found a tendency to
certain.
The age I should fix upon for the trial should be from
benefit.
154 STAMMERING AND STUTTERING.
Concluding Remarks,
recreation.
removal.
One of the earliest proofs of his provincial success, is
vouched for by Sir John Forbes.
ing, in a very high degree, from his infancy. And from the
unreserved exposition of his principles on that occasion, as
well as from the remarkaWe improvement (amounting almost
to a complete cure) produced by this single lesson, I am of
*'
I have, with much pleasure, witnessed Mr. Hunt's
process for the removal of stammering. It is founded on
correct physiological principles, is simple, efficacious, and
unattended by pain or inconvenience. Several young
persons have, in my presence, been brought to him for the
APPENDIX. 159
* * * *
obituary.
APPENDIX B.
Hints to Stammerers.*
will give weary work. Yet I never have seen even such
go away unrelieved. For nature, plastic and kind, slips
i^illingly into the new and yet original groove, and becomes
what she was meant all along to be ;
and though to be con-
168 APPENDIX B.
his digestion, and let him betake himself to all manly exer-
cises v/hich will put him into wind, and keep him in it. Let
him, if he can, ride, and ride hard, remembering that (so
does horse exercise expand the lungs and oxygenate the blood)
there has been at least one frightful stammerer ere novr
who spoke perfectly plainly as long as he was in the saddle.
Let him play rackets and fives, row, and box ; fur all these
teaches him to look a man not merely in the face, but in the
;
170 APPENDIX B.
Tery eye's core ; to keep his chest expanded, his lungs full"'
let him learn to march ; and more, to trot under arms with-
out losing breath ; and by such means make himself aa
active, healthy, and valiant man."
"Meanwhile, let him learn again the art of speaking ; and
laving learnt, think before he speaks, and say his say calmly,
TESTIMONIALS.
I could not have had confidence in you,) but that your aim
was to restore me to a conscious use of the vocal organs, ex-
you must be right and successful also, for it is the great law
and aim of aU worthy work in this world.
" * * * * has given up all his prospects, and
gone to Australia, simply on account of his stammering.
This had happened while I was in town with you. Had I
known you three months before, he might have been saved ;
and I dare say his story is that of many. I assure you what
you have done for me already has been much talked of ; and
that many have promised me to get you pupils.
" 1 must not iorget to say that, thanks to you^ I have been,
preaching and lecturing extempore, not only without stam-
mering, but with an ease I never felt before.
" My dear sir, —It is with great pleasure that I send you
my testimony of the success of your system for the cure of
stammering as instanced in the case of my son.
*'I am glad to say that he continues to speak and read
without hesitation, and I have every reason to hope that his
cure will be quite permanent, as it is now six months since
he was under your care.
*' I have made your successful treatment known to many
—
TESTIMONIALS. 175
176 APPENDIX C.
to your success in relieving ray son from the very painful im-
pediment in his speech, which had been a growing trouble to
him up to the time of his first introduction to you in the
autumn of last year. He then spoke with much difficulty
and some words he could scarcely say at all.
''
I may confidently say the cure has been perfect on your
part. I feel very thankful that I was induced, by two emi-
nent medical gentlemen, to consult you, and place the case
in your hands ; and that the result has been so beneficial to
mj son, and satisfactory to us all.
M
178 APPENDIX C.
tise that actual experience and not mere theory had dictated
the language, encouraged me not only to put myself under your
tuition, but at the same time to invest a considerable quan-
tity af f .\itli ill tlie result.
would be, were they to put into practice the principles yea
teach.
*'
I am, dear sir, yours faithfully,
*' Joseph W. Blake."
—
TESTIMOJiTIALS. 179
" Mr. Hunt has introduced the re- under all its variety of heads, must
;
From the John Bull and Britannia. unaccustomed to address large as-
"The above-named work, wherein semblies," and who pronounce the
care, ability, and research abound, most miserable moments of their
we most sincerely hope will stimu- existence as the happiest, this
late attention to the much neglected manual is invaluable, and we strong-
art of oral delivery. Mr. Hunt ex- ly recommend it to all classes of
plains simply, and advises practi- readers by its perusal the scholar
;
cally ; but not content, as many are, will add greatly to his fund of in-
with merely pointing out error, formation, while the unlearned will
.affords besides the best counsel to- be struck with new ideas of philo-
wards correcting it. In a word, sophy of which he had never pre-
•either as a treatise on physical or viously dreamt.
mental defect or accomplishment, so From the Morning Chronicle.
far as the voice and speech are con-
cerned, it is unexceptionably the re- " Not one professor in a hundred
sult of long experience and study, knows anything of the physical com-
and a complete text book on the position of the organ whose manage-
subject." ment he teaches, nor is he aware of
the acting causes which contribute
From the Examiner. to failme or deficiencies.
its Dr.
" There are many curious details James Hunt, for many years a
and sensible remarks in Doctor practitioner in the cure of impedi-
James Hunt's book, on Philosophy ments of speech has st pped
but his book is not, like so many world, and for the lirst time we
of its kind, a mere advertisement of really have an authority upon, not
his own practice he is interested in
;
merely impediments and physical
the subject of his special study, and obstructions, but upon the voice
out of his real interest therein, this itself, its relation to its employ-
in
book arises." ment, and upon the thousands of
causes which weaken, deteriorate,
From, the Country Gentleman's and impoverish its powers. We
Journal. confess, on taking up this volume,
" This volume is rich in new mat- we were at first a little dismayed;
ter, and the Philosophy of Voice and
a hurried glance at it seemed to
Speech is fully expounded by a —
show that it was diffuse treating of
learned professor thoroughly compe- subjects not immediately within the
tent to undertake the task. By its scope of the object proposed, and
clearness and compactness, the reader, that instead of a practical inquiry
even of moderate capacity, is enabled into a question of universal interest,
it was a mere medical treatise after
to seize a clear idea, and garner in
bis mind a large store of the subject all. Lest any of our readers should
under discussion. To those unfor- be led into the same error, we beg
tunate individuals who stammer out to warn them of it in limine. It is
at public meetings that "They are true that we have at the outset the
OPINION'S OF TIIS PRESS.
this book as one which ought to be the public by the living voice in par-
placed in the library of every asso- ticular."
ciation of schoolmasters, we feel sure From the Beacon.
that v/e are doing them a service for * * * He tracks the footsteps
which they will be grateful." of creative power along its line of ac-
tion, and with a bold hand, lifts the
Derby A^^) Chesterfield Bepoeter.
seal of its operations, and discloses ta
" This work written in a clear
is
the eye of science the workings of the
and lucid style. Most of the tech- Almighty in the production of that
nical tenns are explained as they
marvel of nature, the voice Divine,' '
"brought to the level of all is due (no From the Medical Times & Gazette..
light praise) to the ability, energy, " A great
deal of information has
and recourses of the author. That he been collected and arranged in the
has treated a subject to Avhich the
form of a useful manual."
whole experience of his life has been
devoted as a labour of love, and that Colburn's New Monthly Magazine.
the rules he deduces for the manage- " Dr. James Hunt, son and suc-
ment of the voice are no en:ipu-ical cessor to Mr. Hunt, who obtained so
nostrums, but the plain dictates of much celebrity by his treatment of
common sense, resting on an intimate the difficulties of utterance and other
scientific knowledge as their founda- impediments of speech, has expounded
tion, we might have been sure of from the whole philosophy of the ques-
the experience aud position of so suc- tion in an excellent work, " A Manual
cessful a practitioner as Mr. Hunt, of Philosophy of Voice and
the
and he is fortunate in the possession Speeh.
This work addresses itself
of a clear, simple style, which is in- to a far wider circle than Ihe aillict d,
valuable in a work that lays claim to and we have no doubt will meet with
a popular interest." such a reception at the hands of the
From the Eka. public generally as its merits entitle
it to.
" Mr. Runt has established a repu-
From the Morning Herald.
tation as a special doctor, the best
" The author has collected his
who can be consulted on all defects
in the voice and utterance, and this materials from the best authorities.
volume shows that he is minu ely The work is one which will interest
master of all that science has yet any one who takes it up. To those
discovered." interested in the treatment of defects
in the vocal organs the information
From the Art Journal. it affords must prove extremely valu-
"When a practical man writes able. The chapters on public speaking
C071 (imore, upon a subject he loves, are at once siiggestice and amusing."
he rarely misses to make a book
generally interesting to all. This is
From the Morning- Post.
" The Vv'ork before us is a careful
the case in Dr. Hunt's volume, which
abounds with curious details and epitome of the labours of previous
amusing anecdotes sufncient to make writers It is divided into tv/enty-oue
it agreeable to readers who v/ould chapters, each embodymg under its
given. Dr. Hunt, following his elucidation of the main subject. Dr.
father's career, has longbeen known Hunt's " Manual " must be considered
for his successful treatment of vocal partly as a professional and partly as
defects the present book is a proof
;
a popular composition. In its pro-
how sound is his knowledge, and hovv' fessional bearings he deals with those
well-grounded he is in all that re- parts of the human anatomy imme-
lates to the art." diately involved in the production of
healthy and efficient voice He opens
From Eraser's Magazine, JuIi/ 1859. the great question of races and lan-
" A book which should be in the guages which during all time must
hands, not only of surgeons, but be one of absorbing interest to the
of public singers, schoolmasters, and scientific philologist. Dr. Hunt has
above all, of preachers." evidently bestowed much care in the?
OPINIONS OF THE P3ESS.
regard with curiosity that gift of lan- Speaking,' to the consummation and
guage by which he is so highly dis- perfection of which the whole of this
tinguished, and if the most searching able and instructive work may be said
investigation of the organization by to contribute."
whicli speech is effected still leaves From the Brighton Gazette.
the mysterious power unexplained, '•The author has given us principles
yet such knowledge as can be thus rather than ih3ories, his aim being
acquired is rich in interest and value." rather to advance that v/hich is true
From tJie Civil Service Gazette, than that which is new. The work
" Mr. Hunt, who has long devoted is the result of considerable research
Jimnan speech, and written learnedly branches of the subject are well and
clearly arranged, and dove-tailed as
and well upon it, has now produced
it were, very nicely, one into the
a very comprehensive volume, which
bears evidence of extensive reading
other. The earlier chapters which
are devoted to the elucidation of the
and great care, and which, we doubt
physiological nature of voice and
not, will be accepted by the public
sound, are concise, clear, and well-
as a valuable contribution to the
library of useful knowledge."
arranged the author's reviev/ of the
;
curately the present state of the case. vates the belles lettres"
London :
iliiiilii