VENTRILOQUISM (literally " belly-speaking : " from renter, the belly; and loquor, I speak) is a vocal mimicry of sounds, by which an illusion is produced on the hearer that the sound comes, not from the mimic, but from some other appropriate source. The various pheno mena of vocal mimicry may be conveniently considered under two general heads, namely : let, The simple imitation of the voices of persons, of animals, of musical instruments, and other sounds and noises of every description, in which no illusion is intended, but, on the contrary, the imitation avowedly and perceptibly comes from the mimic; and 2nd, The imitation of those voices, sounds, and noises, not as originating in the mimic, but in some other, an appropriate source at a given or varying distance, in any or even in several directions successively. And when these imitations are made without moving the mouth, features, or body, the illusive effect of tho mimicry is enhanced. The terms mimicry, or imitation, aro commonly adopted to designate efforts under the former general head where no illusion ie intended, while the term ventriloquism distinguishes those under the latter where an illusion is produced.
Thu various kinds of divination amongst the nations, of antiquity which were stated by the priesthood to be by a spirit, a familiar spirit, or a spirit of divination, are now supposed to have been effected by means of ventriloquism. Divination by it familiar spirit can be tracked through a long period of time. By reference to Leviticus, xx. 6, 27, it will be seen that the Moshe law forbade the Hebrews to consult those having familiar spirits, and to put to death the possessor. The Meanie law was given about fifteen hundred years before Christ. Divining by a familiar spirit was however so familiar to the Jews, that the prophet Isaiah draws a powerful illustration from the kind of voice heard in such divination, ace xxix. 4. In the Acts of the Apostles, xvi.
16, mention is made of a young woman with a familiar spirit meeting the Apostles in the city of Philippi in Macedonia. And St. Chrysostom and other early fathers of the Christian Church mention divination by a familiar spirit as practised in their day. The practice of similar divination is still common in the East, and is even practised amongst the Esquimaux. This divination by a familiar spirit has been practised
upwards of three thousand years.
The witch of Ender divined by a familiar spirit; 1 Sam. xxviii. 7, in Hebrew =i8—(0b.) The word is also adopted in the Hebrew Bible to designate those persons, whether male or female, in whom there is a familiar spirit. The plural of is ritris—Oboth, which in the Septuagint version of the Scriptures is mostly rendered by the Creek 'EryaarpuaBovs, which is compounded of iv, in, 7aarbp, the belly, and pi:Bos, speech, and corresponds with the word ventriloquism. This rendering of the llebrcw in the Septuagint, Professor Leo accounts for UT the muttering of those having a familiar spirit—the : see his Hebrew Lexicon, or ' Thee. Ileb.' Gesenii, sub rect.
The Greeks practised a mode of divination termed gastromancy, from yacertp, the belly, and !dens, a prophet ; where the diviner replied without moving his lips, so that the consulter believed he heard the actual voice of a spirit speaking from its residence within the priest's belly. St. Chrysostom adopts the same Greek word as the translators of the Septuagint version to designate the diviners by familiar spirits, namely, 'Eyycurrinptleovs.
The earliest description of a ventriloquial illusion in modern days is that performed by Louis Brabant, valet-de-chambre of Francis I. By the aid of ventriloquism he extorted from the mother of a young woman her consent to their marriage which she had previously opposed, and from a rich old man a large sum of money. The work of M. l'Abb6 de la Chapelle, published 1772, descriptive of the feats of Baron Mengen at Vienna, and of 31. St. Gille near Paris, claims attention. Baron Mengen made a doll with moveable lips, which he could control by his hand under its dress. With this doll he held witty and satirical dialogue. Baron Mengen said he owed art to a passion for counterfeiting the cries of animals and the voices of persons, that the passion manifested itself io early life ; and that lie had the power of imitating sounds so accurately as to make them appear to come from other places than his own mouth.