VOIGT 245 VOLAPUK natural flat position, we hear a; if the lips be fairly open and the back of the tongxie raised at the same time, the vowel produced is e; and if we raise the tongue still higher, and narrow the lips, we hear i. Each of these resonance chamber forms has its own dimensions and its own resonance pitch; and of these ti has the lowest pitch, as may be heard by whispering the vowels, or by means of a series of tuning forks suc- cessively re-enforced by the cavity of the mouth as a resonator; for which reason it is easier to sing u and o on low than on high notes. Diphthongs are produced by continuing the laryngeal sound during the transition from one vowel-mouth-form to another. Conso- nants are produced by various interrup- tions, total or partial, of the outflowing stream of air. If the air be completely stopped by the lips and soft palate, we have p when the obstruction is suddenly removed; the same action, accompanied by a certain continued sound in the larynx, and a heavier air pressure with- in the mouth, gives b; if the air be checked by the lips but not by the soft palate, so that it passes through the nose alone, we have w; if it be checked by the soft palate and by bringing the point of the tongue to the front of the palate, or to the gums, we have t; the same with continued laryngeal sound and greater air pressure gives d; the action for d, modified by allowing a little air to escape over the soft palate through the nose, gives n; if the air be checked by the soft palate and by bring- ing the middle or back of the tongue to the arch of the palate, we have (silent) k and (if there be laryngeal sound) g; the latter, but with the nasal passage open, gives ng. VOIGT, JOHANNES, a German his- torian, born in Bettenhausen, in Saxe- Meiningen, Germany, Aug. 27, 1786. He is author of "Hildebrand as Pope Greg- ory VII. and His Times" (1815), in which he regards the reign of Gregory VII. as one of the most noteworthy phenomena of the Middle Ages, and Gregory himself as a great reformer; "History of the Lombard League and its Struggle with the Emperor Fred- erick I." (1818) ; "History of Prussia from the Earliest Times to the Down- fall of the Domination of the Teutonic Order" (9 vols. 1827-1839) ; "The West- phalian Vehmgerichte or (Mediaeval Tri- bunals) as Related to Prussia" (1836) ; "Margrave Albrecht Alcibiades of Bran- denburg-Kulmbach" (1852) ; "History of the Teutonic Order in Its Twelve Circles in Germany" (2 vols. 1857-1859). He died in Konigsberg, Germany, in 1863. VOIR DIBE, in law, a preliminary ex- amination of a witness to ascertain whether he is competent. When a wit- ness is supposed to have an interest in the cause, the party against whom he is called has the choice to prove such inter- est by calling another witness to that fact, or he may require the witness pro- duced to be sworn on his voir dire, as to whether he has an interest in the case or not; but the party against whom he is called will not be allowed to have re- course to both methods to prove the wit- ness' interest. If xne witness answers he has no interest, he is competent, his oath being conclusive; if he swears he has an interest, he will be rejected. VOIT, KARL VON (foit), a German physiologist; born in Amberg, Bavaria, Oct. 31, 1831. He was appointed Pro- fessor of Physiology in the University of Munich in 1863. His first memorable scientific researches (1854) demon- strated the presence of urea in the mus- cular tissues of cholera patients; after- ward he studied almost exclusively the questions of digestion and assimilation. His principal works are: "Physiologico- Chemical Researches" (Part i. 1857) ; "Effects of Common Salt, Coffee, and Muscular Action, on Digestion" (1860); "Laws of Nutrition in Carnivora" (1860), etc. He died Jan. 31, 1908. VOKES, ROSINA, an English actress; born in London in 1858. Her first ap- pearance was in pantomime, when a mere child, with her brother Frederick and her sisters Victoria and Jessie. They made an instant success in London as "the Vokes family." They afterward came to the United States, where they became great favorites with the public. Rosina for a time refrained from the stage. In 1886 she organized a company for farces and comedies which annually toured in England and the United States till her death in 1914. VOLANT, in heraldry, a term mean- ing flying.^ ^ VOLAPUK, an artificial language in- vented in 1879 by Johann Martin Schleyer, a German priest. Schleyer's years of linguistic study as a prepara- tion for his task, were spent in examin- ing the structure — the mechanism of the important languages of the world. When he had closed his researches in this field, he chose the Aryan family as the general model for his invention. His aim was to produce a language free from all the defects of one of natural growth, with all irregularities and speech peculiarities eliminated. He called his invention Volapvik — "World's Speech." The Roman alphabet was
