Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1894-03-17
Tne SENSE or HEARING.
=. Ds,,cate Perception the Ear II Moro
wonderful Than the Eye

p p.,,c.se Perception the Ear - Moro
wonderful Than the Eye.
Tho ear IL a wonderfully comprehensive
,cstrument. Az compared with the eye,
a. a. v.,tIv superior In extent Of the sensa-
tions It is capable Of experiencing. The eye
possesses barely an octave ana mar OF
sepsations, whereas the average ear az We
know. has q range Of six or seven. wniie
more acute ears have compass OF fuiiy
n octayes. And then the ear Is won
derfully accurate instrument and capable
~ apnrcciating minute differences that
would be wholly impossible in the case OF
tho eve According TO DR.. w. II. Stone,
~ar architect or craftsman who, between
two lines neither parallel nor In one plane,
,nads an error OF estimation by eye not
aTceed,po ope-thirtieth would gain credit
for unusual precision. But In the ear one
.hi-,is,h amounts to Rquarter OF q tone,
snd bv car oue-forty- fifth Is easily deter
roired - ykillful planoforte tuner can
40 mnch mora. He is called upon, for In
st.rce IN distinguish between true and
an .onollv tempered fifth, where the diff
Serence is only the hundredth OF tone. lie
should accordingly be able to recognize at
Least 900 different sounds In an octave.
More than this, according 10 the ihVes,''
cations of Professor Mayer, 1t Is possible.
under specially favorable conditions ana
for sounds whose pitch IL near that OF Co'
to distinguish from each other notes which
do not differ by more than one hundred
and twentieth of seminole.
In the rapidity Of its appreciation the
oar Ia remarkable In fraction OF a Sec
ond II can accurately refer any note to its
nIace in the scale and can just as easily
and quickly separate from each other sew
oral widely different notes. According TO
recent investigations, the ear Is capable OF
hearing sound when only two vibrations
ore made II should therefore hear the
middle notes of the pianoforte In the two
or three bundredth part OF n second. IL
reouires more time, however, for the ear
70 distinguish the full characteristic OF
note. To do this, according to the expert
mepts of Exner, Auerbach and Kohl
rausch. from 2 to 20 vibrations are neces-
sary.
With proper training and practice the
organ of hearing can be rendered remarKa-
hlv sensitive and accurate. There ia rare
IL anv physical defect in the ear itself. The
defects ordinarily noticed and spoken OF
are such as can be easily remedied by cul-
tivation. The organ truly may never pe
able to retain the remarkable range oil
addition we have spoken OF above; it may
never become so Comprehensive and dis
criminant" az the ear Of Mozart, but Its
delicacy can be increased and its general
anpreciation of musical sounds wonder
fully improved. This is especially true II
the work of instruction is begun in child
hood. when the organ OF hearing 10 natu-
rally most sensitive and most readily sIs-
ceptible of cultivation. In making exper-
iments with rods and tuning forks giving
very accurate sounds, | have frequently
been struck with the very great difference
in the ability to perceive such SOUNDS as
manifested by young and old persons
Even when the latter were trained musi-
clans. they were incapable OF hearing some
sounds that were quite audible to chill
dren who had no musical training what
ever. This fact, like many others that
might be adduced, is striking common
tary on the necessity of beginning early
the training Of the young, when eye anu
ear-not TO speak of the other senses-are
ever on the alert and quick to detect sounds
and forms and colors, which at later pc
Rod would entirely escape their ooserVa'
tion.-Paris Etude.