The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1895-07-06
THE SENSE OF HEARING.
In Delicate Perception the Ear Is More
Wonderful Than the Eye.

In Delicate Perception the Ear Is More
Wonderful Than til. Eye.
The ear Is wonderfully comprehensive
instrument. As compared with the eye,
it ~ vastly superior in extent of the sensa-
tions it IS capable Of experiencing. The eye
possesses barely an octave and n half OF
sensations, whereas the average ear, as we
know, has range Of six or seven, while
more acute ears have a compass Of fully
II octaves. And then the ear IL a won
derfully accurate instrument and capable
Of approaching minute differences that
would he wholly impossible in the case Of
the eye. According to DIR. W, II. Stone,
ian architect or craftsman who, between
two lines neither parallel nor In one plane,
made an error of estimation by eye not
exceeding one.thirtieth would gain credit
| for unusual precision. But in the ear one
thirtieth amounts to II quarter of IA tone,
and by ear oue-forty-fith Is easily deter
mined" A skillful pianoforte tuner can
J do mnch r,nre. lie Is called upon, for in
stance, to distinguish between a true and
an equally tempered fifth, where the diff
ference is only the hundrcdth of "A tone. He
should accordingly be able to recognize at
least 600 different sounds in an octave,
| More than this. according to the investi-
/
under specially favorable conditions and
for sounds whose pitch is near that Of ca,
to distinguish from each other notes which
do not differ by more than IA one hundred
and twentieth Of n seminole.
In the rupidity of its appreciation the
ear is remarkable. In a fraction of n sec
ond it can accurately refer any note to its
place in the scale and can just as easily
and quickly separate from each other sew
eral widely different notes. According to
recent Investigations, the ear Is capable of
| hearing Il sound when only two vibrations
are made. II should therefore hear the
middle notes Of the pianoforte in the two
! or three -huudredth part of "A second. IL
requires more time, however, for the ear
TO distinguish the full characteristic Of a
note. To do this, according to the expert
mcuts of ENner, Auerbach and Kohl
rausch, from . to 20 vibrations are neces-
sary.
With proper training and practice the
| organ Of hearing eau be rendered remarka-
bly, sensitive and accurate. There Is rare
ly any physical defect in the ear itself The
defects ordinarily noticed and spoken Of
are such rs can he easily rcmedied by cul-
tivation. The organ truly may never he
able to retain the remarkable range OF
| nuultlOn we have s'c'-f n OF uhONe, ~ may
never become so "apprehensive and dis
criminant" as the enr Of Mozart, but its
delicacy can he increased and its general
appreciation 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 Is natu'
rally most sensitive and most readily sus
ceptihle Of cultivation. In making eNper
imcnts with rods and tuning forks giving
very accurate sounds, I have frequently
been struck with the very great diiferenc,
in the ability TO peueive such sounds al
manifested by young and old persons
Even when the latter were trained must
clans, they were incapable of hearing som,
sounds that were quite audible to chill
dren who had no musical training what
ever. This fact, like many others tina
might be adduced il striking common
tary on the necessity of beginning earl!
the training Of the young, when eye an'
ear-not to speak Of the other senses-ar
ever on the alert and quick to detect sound
and forms and colors, which at n later pc
riod would entirely escape their observa
tion. Paris Etude.