Ventriloquism is the art of producing tones and words without any motion of the mouth, so that the hearer is induced to refer the sound to some other place. It does not depend on any peculiar structure of the organs of voice, but upon practice and dexterity. The name is founded upon the mistaken supposition that the voice proceeds from the belly. The art of the ventriloquist consists mainly in taking a deep inhalation of breath, and then allowing it to escape slowly; the sounds of the voice being modified and muffled by means of the muscles of the upper part of the throat and of the palate. The ventriloquist avails himself at the same time of means such as are employed by slight-of-hand performers to mislead the attention. Ventriloquism is a very ancient art; the Greeks ascribed it to the operation of demons, and called ventriloquists Epaast-rimanteis (' 'belly-prophets.")