Following the air-passage downwards, we come to the larynx or voice box which, being in immediate continuity with the nose and throat, is affected in any extension of the cold. The larynx is a vibrating chamber for the voice and contains the vocal chords. An early result, therefore, if the larynx gets inflamed, is that the stuffy voice of the ordinary cold changes into the real croak of laryngitis, and later, if the vocal chords become more swollen, the voice may be reduced to a whisper or even disappear altogether.