In 1825 Cagniard de Latour introduced a little mirror into the back of the throat, hoping with the aid of the sun's rays and a second mirror to be able to see the epiglottis, and even the glottis, but failed. In 1827 another unsuccessful attempt was made by Senn of Geneva; and two years later Benjamin Guy Babington exhibited at the Hunterian Society of London an instrument very like the laryngoscope now in use: he employed it in many cases, but for some reason seems to have left no record of them.
In 1832 Bennati of Paris stated that he could see the vocal cords by means of a double-tubed speculum, invented by a patient suffering from laryngeal phthisis. Trouseau, however, proved to his own satisfaction that the epiglottis must always make it impossible to see the inside of the larynx.
In 1838 Baumès of Lyons showed a mirror with which he said the larynx could be examined.
In 1844 Warden of Edinburgh reported two cases in which he said he had been able to make "satisfactory ocular inspection of diseases affecting the glottis," by using two prisms of flint glass. In the same year Avery of London devised a laryngoscope in which a laryngeal mirror was combined with a lamp and reflector: the apparatus embodied the essential features of the modern laryngoscope, but its clumsiness made its practical application difficult, and in many cases impossible.
Up to 1850, then, the different attempts had met with failure in varying degrees. When Garcia attacked the problem he was quite ignorant of the fact that others had been at work, and his reason for wishing to overcome the difficulty and catch a glimpse of the glottis was perfectly different from theirs. His was one connected entirely with his work as a teacher of singing. Ever since he had given attention to the scientific aspects of voice-emission, he had longed to see a healthy glottis in the very act of singing. The idea of employing mirrors for the purpose of studying the interior of the larynx came to him in 1854. The following is the story of the discovery as he related it one day:—
"During all the years of study and investigation of the problems of the voice-emission," he said, "one wish was ever uppermost in my mind—'if only I could see the glottis!'"
One day in the September of 1854, when on a visit to Paris, he was standing in the Palais Royal. Suddenly there came to him an idea. "Why should I not try to see it?" How must this be done? Why, obviously by some means of reflection. Then, like a flash, he seemed to see the two mirrors of the laryngoscope in their respective positions as though actually before his eyes. He went straight to Charrière, the surgical instrument maker, asked whether they happened to possess a small mirror with a long handle, and was at once supplied with a dentist's mirror, which had been one of the failures of the London Exhibition of 1851. He bought it for six francs.
Returning home, he placed against the uvula this little piece of glass, which he had heated with warm water and carefully dried. Then with a hand-mirror he flashed on to its surface a ray of sunlight. By good fortune he hit upon the proper angle at the very first attempt. There before his eyes appeared the glottis, wide open and so fully exposed that he could see a portion of the trachea. So dumfounded was he that he sat down aghast for several minutes. On recovering from his amazement he gazed intently for some time at the changes which were presented to his vision while the various tones were being emitted. From what he witnessed it was easy to conclude that his theory, attributing to the glottis alone the power of engendering sound, was confirmed, and thence it followed that the different positions taken by the larynx in the front of the throat had no action whatever in the formation of the sound. At last he tore himself away, and wrote a description of what he had seen.
Six months later, on March 22, 1855, his paper, "Physiological Observations on the Human Voice," was submitted to the Royal Society of London. In it was set down the scientific thesis of his discovery in language which would have done credit to expert anatomists and physiologists.
On May 24 this was read before the Society by Professor Sharpey at a meeting held under the presidency of Lord Wrottesley, and was duly published in the 'Proceedings of the Royal Society,' vol. vii.