Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-03-23
QUEER THINGS IN PEOPLES
EARS.
A Young Woman Who Was Surprised
at the Removal of a Button.


"YOu would be astOnished," said
| skilled aurist in one of the public eye and
ear infrmaries, 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 tool
I ishly stuck in them and have been unable
! to get out again. L have sometimes dis
! posed of ten such cases in an afternoon,
/ and have pulled almost everything out of
( the human ear that is possible to get in
| ere-shOe-buttOns, pieces of slate pen
I Gil, candies, and wads Of paper. Four
times out of five the yOungster is old
enough to know better; but it is a habit
they fall into, the same as biting their
| nails or scratching their heads. One boy
not yet y years old is almost a weekly
visitor here. 'Well,' [ said, as l saw HIM
come in as usual yesterday afternoon,
what have yol got in there this timer
'NaWthin' but a BEAM he dTaWled. Oh,
yes, l took it out.
"But L recently met with the most re-
markable case of that kind in % years
practice. A young woman of % came in
% deaf that / could hardly make ner near
by shouting through trumpet. After re-
moving great quantity Of wax from her
ears l found something metallic.
WHAT'S this | said, have you been
putting something in your carp
'Oh, dear, no. she said, i am not so
foolish as that
"Imagine her surprise when | pulled
out smooth, round brass button, with
quite a large shank to it. This seems to
have been in there great many years. /
said. To my surprise the young woman
crouched in the corner IN undisguised
terror.
"Oh, DOCTOR she said, what is that
awful nOise'
1T was nothing but a wagon rumbling
| xVh b1
was. Her hearing had become normal
when l removed that button, and she was !
frightened and bewildered at the tumble /
OF confusing sounds. The ticking of the !
clock, chiTping of the canary, or dripping I
OF water distressed her, and the rustic of |
her own silk dress made her start with |
fear. | sent one Of the assistants home
with her in a carriage, and he said that !
the CHATTER in the street so distracted her 1
that he was compelled to hold her in her /
seat. About a week afterward 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 me about that button.
"'When | was about years old she
said, i was sent to a village church in I
New England with my grandmother. The !
sermon was always long and tiresOme, |
and l used to amuse myself by pulling at
the brass buttons on my cloak One of
them came off one Sunday, and | occu-
pied myself for a time with putting it in
my ear and shaking it out again. Sud
denly / felt it sink away in there and |
could not get it out. / was afraid to tell
my grandmother at the time, and soon af-
terWard forgot it. At 10 years of age l
began to grow deaf and have been get
ting worse ever since, but L never once /
thought of that button until you removed /
it. -
"DO grown people," asked the repor-
ter, sever come to you with things in their
ears"
Frequently, but in most cases it is
through no fault of their own. l know /
one man. a butcher, who comes here reg
ularly in the summer time to have flies
removed from his ears. / have taken out
six at one time for him. How ever they
get there l don't know. He says they fly
in: but they don't fly out, Pm sure of
that. \ man called me out of bed one /
night TO get CrotOn bug out of his ear.
Now, a water bug will never back. He |
must either turn around or go straight /
ahead. This fellow had crawled 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. Men /
employed in tanneries often get a pecu- !
liar-lOOking worm in their ears, which is |
no small trouble to remove"