The daily silver state. [volume] (Winnemucca, Nev.) 1903-1907, 1904-02-03
YOU HAVE SIX EARS.
THE ORGANS OF HEARING ARE A
WONDERFUL SET OF MACHINES.

Two Snail Shells. six Drums and
Several odher Curious Utensils.
The hearing apparatus is far more
wonderful than most people have tie
slightest idea of. 1t is a marvellous
collection Of Instruments for receiving,
magnifying and recording sounds or
vibrations, as the learned term them.
What you do when you speak to a
friend is to throw the air into gibra
ton. Your vocal organs strike the air,
and the impulses thus caused reach Tie
trumpet shaped bits Of flesh and gr.ste
you call ears. You have altogether sis
ears.
The flaps which are stuck on 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
ceutrate 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-
tlS - At|ttN1 fAAAh AAhH III q LABS. n
membrane is stretched over this ring.
much in the same way as a piece of
parchment is stretched over the head
of a drum.
The ear drum is a true drum, for 1t
ean be frightened and slackened by
means of levers made for that purpose.
The tightening and slackenlng are done
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sounds.
This is how it is tightened: In the
middle ear are four tiny bones. the
Jos peculiar looking bones imagina.
bic. The biggest is a little odd shaped
bone called tie mallet. 1t looks like q
%liIliputian version Of a Holsters claw.
Minute muscles are attached to it. Sc
that it may act IS a lever to increase
or diminish the tension of the drum
skin. One muscle relaSes the mem
brane, another pulls it taut.
fhe four bones form Il chain to con
acct 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 mallet is the anvil, then come the
spherical bone and the stlrrup. which
looks exactly like its namesabe. but it
is by far tae most important of the
four. By means OF this alone one can
hear. in u fashion. even if all the others
be gone.
y bony, grlstly tube joins the ear
drum with the back of the mouth at
the side OF lie soft palate. Hence the
four bones are always in a bath of air,
quite naked as it were. Ii 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 vesti5ule. or hall.
and it has Il drumhead to which the
CLAIM 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 semicircuIar
canals. The other is shaped exactly as
Il snail's she'll. All these make up a
peculiar labyrinth. and all are com
pletely diiet with Il curious fluid. Their
walls are lined with the soft, PUPPY
nerves of hearing which communicate
with the brain. Owing to these com
pick and winding cavities. a 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 heshy flap on one side collects ana
magnihes the vibrations.
Down the ear funnel they pass until
they reach the membrane of the drum
of the ear. They strike on the mem
brane, which adapts itself to them.
Then the vibrations are communicated.
through the bones in the middle ear.
to the membrane covering the entrance
TO the labyrinth.