In connection with this subject, a few words are necessary concerning
impediment of speech, for in cases where a slight degree of hesitation
breaks the fluent tenor of discourse much may be accomplished by due care
and attention, and most defects of speech, voice, and manner may be
modified or remedied by cultivation and diligent study and practice.

In seeking for a remedy the first thing to be considered is the care of the
health, for this is the foundation of every hope of cure, and all excesses
should be avoided and all irregularities guarded against.

All the mental powers should be enlisted in the combat with the defect, and
the student should speak with deliberation and with an expiring breath, and
when alone practice frequently the words and letters that he finds most
difficult to pronounce, and should also furnish his mind with a copious
vocabulary of synonyms, so that if he finds himself unable to utter a
particular word, he may substitute some other in its place. But above all
he must maintain a courageous command over himself and exert the energy of
his own mind. By observing these rules, if the defect is not entirely
eradicated, it will at least be palliated in a considerable degree.




CHAPTER IV.

ELEMENTARY SOUNDS OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE.


The number of elements in the language is thirty-eight.