The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1884-05-14
A TALK WITH AN AURIST.
THE QUEER THINGS THAT OFTEN
GET INTO PEOPLES EARS.
Children the Principal Sufferers Ter.
rible Sc nsatiOns OF One Who's Ear
Nal Been Long Stopped.


rible Sc nsatiOns OF One Whose Ear
Hal Been Long stopped.
"Iou would be astonishcd." said a
skilled aurist in one of the public eye and
ear iniirmaries, sat the large number of
children who are brought to us in the
course of a week to have something re-
moved from their ears that they have fool
ishly stuck in them and have been unable
to get out again. I have sometimes dis
posed of ten such cases in m afternoon.
and have pulled almost everything out of
the human ear that it is possible to get in
thcrc-shoc buttons, pieces of slate pen
Gil. candies and wads Of paper. -Four
times out of five the youngest is old
enough to know better; but it is habit
they fall into. the same as biting their
nails or scratching their heads. One boy
not twelve years old is almost q weekly
visitor here. We'll, l said, as saw him
come in as usual Yesterday afternoon,
what have YOU got in there this time?'
'Nawthin' but a bcan,' he drawlcd. On,
yes. l took it out.
"But | recently met with the most re"
markablc case of the kind in twenty
years practice. Ayoung woman oftwcnty-
three came in so deaf that | could hardly
make her hear by shouting through Il
trumpet. After removing IA great guam,
titv of wax from her ears | found some
thing metallic.
"'What's this said, have you been
putting something in your ear
"'Oh, dear, no. she said, i am not so
foolish as that
'Imaginc her surprise when | pulled
out a smooth, round brass button, with
quite a large shank to it. This seems
to have been in there a great many years.
| said. To my surprise the young woman
crouched in the corner in undisguiscd
terror.
"'Oh, DOCTOR, she said, what is that
awful noise Z
"It was nothing but a wagon rumbllng
bv, but | instantly saw what the trouble
was. Her hearing had become normal
when l removed that button, and she was
frightened and bcwildercd at the tumble
of confusing sounds. The ticking Of
the clock, chirping Of the canary, or
dripping of water distressed her, and
the rustic of her own silk dress made her
start with fear. l sent one of the assls-
tants home with her in a carriage, and
he said that the CHATTER in the street SO
distracted her that he was compelled to
hold her in her seat. About Il week af-
terward she came in again.
"And wanted that button put back, |
suppose" interrupted the reporter.
"Oh, no she was trimming over with
happiness, though for a day or two she
was afraid to leave the house. But she
told nc about that button. when l
was about eight years old, she said, 4
was sent to a village church in New Eng
land with my grandmother. The sermon
was always long and tircsome, and | used to
amusc myself by pulling at the brass but
ton on nv cloak. One of them came of one
Sunday, and l occupied myself fora time
with putting it in my car and shaking it
out again. Suddenly felt it sink away
in there and l could lot get it out. |
was afraid to tell my grandmother at the
time, and soon afterward forgot it.. At
ten years of age l began to grow deaf,
and have been getting worse ever since,
but l never once thought of that button
until YOU removed it,"
do grown people," asked the repor-
ter, lever come to you with things in
their cars?n
"Frequcntly, but in most cases 1t is
through no fault of their own. l know
one man, a butcher, who comes here
regularly in the summer time to have
flies removed from his ears. l have taken
out six at one time for him. How ever
they get there I don't know. He says
they fly in; but they don't fly out, I'm
sure of that. A man called me out of
bed one night to get a Croton bug out of
his ear. Now, a water bug will never
back. lie must either turn around or go
straight ahead. This fellow had crawlcd
into the mans ear, and, not finding room
enough to turn around, went ahead. He
was paving away with his feelers on the
drum, causing the poor man fearful
aGOny."