LARYNGOSCOPE AND LARYNGOS COPY. Although attempts had been previously made by Avery and Garcia to explore the recesses of the larynx by means of a reflecting mirror, it was not until two German physiologists, Drs. Turck and Czermak, took up the subject in 1857 and 1858, that the great importance of laryngoscopy was first gener ally recognized.
The laryngoscope is a small mirror placed on a stalk attached to its margin, at an angle of from 120° to 150', the stalk being about 6 in. in length, and being composed of flexible metal, so that it can be bent at the will of the operator.
The mouthpiece of a large reflector, with a central opening through which the observer looks, is held between the molar teeth; or, which is better, the reflector may he attached to a spectacle frame by a stiffly working ball and-socket joint. The rays of the sun or of g good lamp are concentrated,by means of this reflector on the laryngeal mirror, which is placed against the soft palate and Uvula. The laryngeal mirror, intro
duced with the right hand, which rests by two fingers on the jaw, is maintained at such an inclination that it throws the light downwards, and illuminates the parts to be examined, while at the same time it reflects the images of these parts into the eye of the observer through the central opening of the reflector. By this means he can look through the larynx into the trachea or windpipe.
By means of this instrument we can see the actual position of small tumors, ulcers, etc., whose existence would otherwise have been at most only suspected; and the pre cision and accuracy of diagnosis to which we can thus attain, enable us to employ rational means of local treatment to an extent that was quite impossible before the introduction of laryngoscopy.