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The Royal Society: Science in the Making

Unpublished paper, 'An experimental inquiry into the cause of the grave and acute tones of the human voice' by John Bishop

Reference number: AP/19/3

Date: 04 February 1835

Description

Bishop presents observations on 'the organs of the human voice', focusing on vibrations and pitch. He discusses how the mechanics of human voice production are different to those of other animals and insects. Includes one page of diagrams showing muscles and cartilage of the larynx.

Subject: Physiology / Physics

Received 5 February 1835. Read 19 February 1835. Communicated by Peter Mark Roget.

Written by Bishop at Bernard Street [Edinburgh].

Whilst the Royal Society declined to publish this paper in full, an abstract of the paper was published in volume 3 of Abstracts of the Papers Printed in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London [later Proceedings of the Royal Society] as 'An experimental inquiry into the cause of the grave and acute tones of the human voice'.

Reference number
AP/19/3
Earliest possible date
04 February 1835
Physical description
Ink on paper
Page extent
49 pages
Format
Manuscript

Creator name

John Bishop

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Citation

John Bishop, Unpublished paper, 'An experimental inquiry into the cause of the grave and acute tones of the human voice' by John Bishop, 04 February 1835, AP/19/3, The Royal Society Archives, London, https://makingscience.royalsociety.org/items/ap_19_3/unpublished-paper-an-experimental-inquiry-into-the-cause-of-the-grave-and-acute-tones-of-the-human-voice-by-john-bishop, accessed on 08 July 2025

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https://makingscience.royalsociety.org/items/ap_19_3/unpublished-paper-an-experimental-inquiry-into-the-cause-of-the-grave-and-acute-tones-of-the-human-voice-by-john-bishop

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  • Archived Papers

    The 'Archived Papers' collection is comprised of original manuscript scientific papers and letters submitted to the Royal Society which remained unpublished or were abstracted in the journal 'Proceedings of the Royal Society' published from 1830 onwards.

    Dates: 1768 - 1989

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