The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1903-10-07
YOU HAVE SIX EARS.
THE ORGANS OF HEARING ARE A
WONDERFUL SET OF MACHINES.

They Include Two Hammers. Two
Anviis. Two Stirrups, Six Canals.
Two SDuil Shells, Six Drums and
several Other Curious Utensils.
The hearing apparatus is far more
wonderful than most people have the
slightest idea OF. 1t is q marvellous
collection of instruments for receiving.
magnifying and recording sounds or
vibrations, as the learned term them.
What you do when you speak to
friend is TO throw the air into vibra-
ton Your vocal organs strike tho mir,
and the impulses thus caused reach tile
trumpet shaped bits OF flesh una Gristic
you call ears. You have altogether six
ears.
The flaps which are stuck OIL to each
side of the head are the outer ears. Be
sides these there are the middle ears
and the inner ears, all Of which lie in
cavities in the bones Of the head. All
that the flaps do is to collect and con-
centrate the vibrating currents OF air,
so that they may strike the ear drums.
These latter are really the middle
ears. The outer ear narrows as it en-
\.
membrane is stretched over this ring.
much in the same way as n piece Of
parchment is stretched over the head
of drum.
The ear drum Is q true drum, for it
| can be frightened and slackened by
means Of levers. made for that purpose
The tightening and siackening are done
quite automatically TO suit the various
sounds.
This IS how it is frightened: In the
middle ear are four tiny bones, the
most peculiar looking bones imagina-
bic. The biggest is q little odd shaped
bone called the mallet. 1t looks like q
lilliputian version Of a lobsters claw.
Minute muscles are attached to It, so
that It may act rs lever to increase
or diminish the tension Of the drum
skin. One muscle relaXes the mem
brane, another pulls 1t taut.
The four bones form a chain to con-
meet the drum skin Of the outer ear with
the drum skin of the inner and SO to
conduct the sound. The next bone to
] the nIallet Ia the anvil, then come the
| spherical bone and the stirrup, which
looks exactly like its namesake, but it
is by far the most important Of the
| four. BY means Of this alone one can
hear, in fashion. even if all the others
| be gone.
A bony, gristly tube joins the eur
drum with the back Of the mouth ut
| the side Of the soft palate. Hence the
| four bones are always in bath of air,
quite naked, rs it were. 1t is owing to
| this that people who are somewhat
deaf are able to hear better when they
| listen with their mouths open.
| Now we come to the inmoSt ear,
which is made up Of three parts. The
first one is called the vestibule, or hall,
| and it has a drumhead to which the
chain of little bones is attached.
| The hall leads to the other parts,
both Of which consist of tortuous tubes
along which the sound passes. One
part is made Of three semicircular
canals. The other is shaped exactly as
snail's shell. All these make up n
| peculiar labyrinth, and all are COM
pletely filed with curious fluid. Their
walls are lined with the soft, pulpy
| nerves Of hearing which communicate
with the brain. Owing to these COM
| pleX and winding cavities, great ex-
tent Of nerves is exposed for the recep-
ton of sound.
| Now let US see what happens when
somebody says Heart" to you.
The air is thrown into vibrations,
which spread out and out until they
touch the side Of your head. There
the heshJ hdp OH one side collects and
| magnifies the vibrations.
Down the ear funnel they pass until
they reach the membrane of the drum
Of the ear. They strike on the men,
brane: which adaptc itself to them.
! Tnen the vibra tons are communicated.
through the bones in the middle ear,
/ to the membrane covering the entrance
to the labyrinth.
! If you keep your mouth wide open
the air vibrations pass direct to tho
little bones. The impulses Of the air
are not interrupted by first having to
stdRe the membrane OF the drum; that
III all the difference.
| People could easilySs converse with
! their ears sealed up If the two
| speakers each held an end Of the same
piece Of hard wood against Their teeth
| even the faintest whisper could be un-
derstood.
| You will see from this that what are
| commonly called the ears are not es-
sentally necessary to hearing, after
au.
Well however the vibrations are re-
+, ceived, they finally strike against the
membrane covering the entrance to the
hall Of the labyrinth. Thence they
make the fluid which fills the labyrinth
| vtbrate. These vibrations act on the
hbers Of the auditory nerve, the fbers
which coat the inner ear. Along this
nerve the Impressions are communicat-
ed to the brain. In this manner the
sensation. Of sound is produced, and
you know that somebody said "Hear!"
to you.
; The Tepid Bath.