Every mouthful of our food slides right across the opening of the windpipe, which has to be protected by a special flap, or trap-door of gristle, called the epiglottis.
"A Handbook of Health"
Woods Hutchinson
There was no doubt in the mind of practitioners generally of the necessity in many cases for some such expedient as the intubation of the larynx, but there was a very generally accepted notion that the mucous membrane of the larynx was entirely too sensitive to permit of a tube remaining for any considerable length of time in contact with the vocal cords and the very sensitive mucous membrane of the epiglottis.
"Makers of Modern Medicine"
James J. Walsh
Accordingly he made many wax models of the larynx, and studied the function of the epiglottis and its method of covering the larynx in order to facilitate the complete protection of the laryngeal tissues during the process of swallowing.
"Makers of Modern Medicine"
James J. Walsh