Clarke courier. [volume] (Berryville, Va.) 1869-1997, 1904-05-18

Played Upon by Various sounds.
Whenever big gun is fired at Fort
Hancock. the governments proving
grounds on Sandy Hook. the officers in
charge advise all spectators TO stand
on their tiptoeS, stick their fingers in
their ears and open their mouths. ON
board ship where conditions are such
that one cannot 10 fZr away from a
thirteen inch rifle. tue more sensitive
among the officers ANA sailors place 4
cork or chunk of rubber between their
teeth when there is about o. Zoe dis
charge. Men have been known To
bleed in the ear from the effects OF the
conclusion caused 10y much smaller
gun than Il thirteen inch bore. one
Of the officers ut Fort Hancock was
asked TO explain the philosophy of ele-
waiting oneself ON the toes. placing i'm
gers in ears and opening the mouth.
Standing on the toes is like stand
ing on spring" he replied. while
standing on the heel or fun sole OF
the foot is like standing on a solid By
placing spring between your person
and violent force the impact is -
weakened that You are unlikely TO SUI
Ter injury. I'm the firing OF heavy ord
nance a severe shock may Zoe received
from the ground
AS for the fingers i'm the ears. that's
plain enough. 1t is simply closing the
auditory canal TO prevent the ingress
OF the air which is set i'm intense vi
bration 10y the discharge. Many a
careless soldier has had his tympanic
membrane destroyed 10y ncglccting 90
close mp his ears. either with his fin
gers or some foreign substance.
1t is wise TO open the mouth. for the
reason that 10 DO So tends 10 eQualize
the pressure caused 10y the defamation.
With the mouth closed the pressure is
on the external side OF the tympanic
membrane forcing IL inward and split
ting il. When the mouth is open this
is Offset by the same pressure from
within. by means Of the eustachian
tube
Many men in the artillery are mi
nus tympanic membranes. but that
wonderful design Of nature is not alb
solutely necessary 10 hearing. When
ii is torn the hearing is impaired. GER
tainly. but not destroyed. since the
surrounding air then acts directly upon
the membranes of the two orifices.
Nothing in anatomy is more beautiful
than the arrangement OF the ear. /
have made a study Of 1t since coming
here. as l had the misfortune TO lose
one Of my tympanic membranes.
The inner membrane OF the cochlca
is lined with elastic 1bers. discovered
by Corti and bearing his name. They
apparently form the examinations OF
the filaments OF the auditory nerve.
Helmholtz. the greatest authority on
acoustics the world has produced, de
clared that each one of these fibers is
attuned TO special note. and as they
are above 5000 in number there must
be over 400 for each octave. The in
terval from one TO another is one-sixty-
sixth Of tone They form Il won
drous instrument for reproducing every
note that the ear can distinguish The
cochlea may be called m Holian harp
Of 5000 strings that move in sympathy
TO all the sounds of creation.
''Many ears are incapable Of hearing
very high sounds. Many persons are
deaf 10 the chirping Of crickets. and
some cannot hear the twittering OF
sparrows. There was said 10 be a
boy in Texas whose ears We're de
formed 10 remarkable degree. the
auricle of one being nearly as large
as the side Of his head, while that OF
the other was no bigger than your
thumb nail BY closing the small ear
he could hear the approach of a rain
storm hundred miles off. BY closing
the big one he could hear fly walking
on the ceiling. Isn't that romantic
enough for you? 1t takes a vivid i'm
aginatiOn to believe the story, but
when you consider the miracles Of the
ear and hearing you may believe al
most anything
II do not doubt that there are many
sounds so faint that our ears are deaf
TO them. but they make sweet music
for others. You know what paracOusis
is, l suppose. No? Well, you have II
when you cannot hear faint sounds at
all when things are still. but hear them
at once when they are accompanied by
a great noise. / once read of a woman
ian authentic case) who made her serv-
ant beat a drum whenever she want
ed 10 listen TO anything, for then she
could hear very we'll There was a
man who could not hear except when
the bells were ringing 1t is an old
story that deaf persons hear well when
travelling on n railroad, or when rat
Ting over a rough highway in n car
riage
There was shoemaker's apprentice
who heard only when his master was
beating out sole on his iron. The
left ear generally hears better than the
right. Some say this is owing to the
commop habit OF sleeping on the right
side. / have my doubts There is a
record Of man whose two ears heard
different tones at the same time when
single one was given.
''The ears of the lower animals are
incomplete. DO fishes hear? Certain
ly, although the cavity Of the tympa-
mum is entirely wanting. the round and
oval orifices being at the top of the
head. Look out! Get up on your toes
and open your mouth. The mortar on
the left is about to be discharged. The
wind is with the she'll so you needn't
close your car. There she goesv'-New
York Press.