Excerpt from A Treatise on the Diseases of the Chest and on Mediate Auscultation To estimate fairly the correctness of M. Laennec's statements, we ought, also, to take into account his vast experience, and his unequalled practical tact, which was the admiration of every one who had opportunities of observing his examinations. In no case, even the most Obscure, did he shrink from pronouncing his opinions, and fixing his diagnosis; and rarely indeed was he mistaken. These circumstances ought to make his successors long hesitate before they call in question the correctness of his statements, even although they should fail to verify them, by repeated experience; and incline them rather to doubt their own capacity in exploring, and the accuracy or acuteness Of their perceptive powers, than the fidelity of the records which he has bequeathed to them. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

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The contemporary novel is not as silent as we tend to believe, nor does it only attend to human plots and characters. As this book shows, writers in a range of subgenres have devoted considerable attention to the voices of nonhuman animals, and to the histories and technologies of listening that shape twenty-first-century cultures and environments. In doing so, their multispecies novels illuminate the cultural meanings we attach to creatures like dogs, frogs, whales, chimpanzees, and Tasmanian tigers – not to mention various bird species and even plants. At the same time, these stories explore the attitudes of distinct communities of human listeners, ranging from vets and musicians to chimp caretakers and sonar technicians. In highlighting animal sounds and their cultural meanings, these novels by authors including Amitav Ghosh, Julia Leigh, Richard Powers, Karen Joy Fowler, Cormac McCarthy, and Han Kang also enrich pressing debates about species extinction, sound pollution, nonhuman communication, and human-animal relations. As we are violently reshaping the planet, they invite us to reimagine our own humanity and animality – and to rethink how we tell stories about multispecies contact zones and their complex soundscapes.