Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1908-12-16
OUR ERRAT|C SENSES
Some of the Curious Facts Re-
corded by Psychologists.
THE PHENOMENA OF SOUND.

Persons-Pecularitie of the Deli
cate Sense Of Smell.
II you shade the eyes, you weaken
your sense Of hearing. Try it with a
watch and the result will surprise you.
III you sip glass Of cold water, you
will increase for a short time your
power Of vision. If you I'LL the mouth
with water, you will greatly strength
en- your sense of smell.
Many similar curious facts about the
senses are told by psychologists.
There Is a multitude of sounds made
In the world every day, for instance,
which we cannot hear, however close
they may be. Every sound must last q
certain time In order to be heard by
the ear If it is an extremely feeble
sound 1t must last quite two seconds
or we cannot hear 1t. But, no matter
how long 1t lasts, we cannot hear it If
it is very low or very high note.
Extremely small animals emit such
high notes that we never hear them.
Some people cannot even hear the
sQueal of mice. The lowest notes of
an organ are mere rumbling noises to
most people, and some cannot hear
them at all.
1t is by means Of the external ear we
Judge the direction from which sound
comes Stand facing clock, place
your hands In front of your ears, with
the palms turned back, close your eyes;
you will then think the clock Is behind
you.
Why can some animals smell more
keenly than others? 1t is question of
the space within the nose capable of
I. smelling. In man this space is very
small-less than one-fourth Of square
inch. In dogs and most mammals 1t
Is very much larger. The porpoise has
no sense of smell. Then comes man,
and also the monkeys, whales and all
kinds Of fowl and birds, with very
feeble smelling power. When peo-
pie talk Of vultures seeming dead
bodies they make a mistake. Lions,
tigers, wolves, etc., can scent them at
long distances, but vultures depend on
their sense Of sight.
The sense of smell Is exceedingly del
icate. If one ounce of musk were d.
vided into 15,0O0,OOO,000 parts one of
these infinitesimal parts would be per-
ceptible by the average persons nose.
On the other hand, many people have
no power to smell some substances,
such as mignonette. vanilla. violets and
prussic acid.
Taste Is curious In the fact that diff.
ferent parts of the tongue appreciate
different fiavors. At the tip we per
ceive sweet tastes best. at the sides
acid tastes and at the back bitter
tastes. Substances must be dissolved
I'm order to be tasted. and dry morsel
I'm a dry mouth has no flavor This is
why smokers cannot taste well. Their
mouth glands, which manufacture sa-
Iva. are paraiyzed by the tobacco.
Very hot or very cold things are scarce
~ tasted at all. If you want to get
the best flavor from your food it must
be at some temperature between 80
and 90 degrees.
Every one knows how easily the
0CnSc Va SlSaI ID dcCClfCu ny OpliCdI
puzzles. But curious deception is
practiced on us all throughout our
lives, and no one ever perceives It.
There is blind spot in the eye where
the optic nerve enters. In everything
we look at, therefore, there Is a little
gap where we see nothing. But no one
II aware Of 1t, because It has been the
case since we first opened our eyes.
In estimating distance we Judge by
the experience we gain In walking.
The eye itself cannot Judge distances.
A near hill and a distant mountain
VIII each form an image Of the same
size on the eye. We know the noun
tain Is further away than the hill be-
cause there are more intervening OBJ
jects. But we can often make an esti-
mate Of distance, In a curious way, by
the muscles Of the eyeball. In order
to focus near object we must bulge
the lens, and to focus q distant object
we must f1atten the lens. The amount
of muscular labor used in doing this
gives us an idea Of the distance Of the
object.
A man seems much thinner In dark
than in light clothing. All black things,
in fact, appear smaller than white
things Of the same size. An image re-
mains on the eye for some time after
looking at an object. If the thing Is
very bright the image remains long
time, and sometimes If you look direct
ly at the sun you will carry the image
OF 1t around with you for days.
Color blind people have defective
musical sense. They confuse different
notes, and, curiously, the confusion Of
green blind people differs from the
confusion of red blind people. Colors
strengthen the sense of taste Red APP
Piles and tomatoes and Strawberries
and green pickles taste better than the
selfsame vegetables and fruit when
they are paler.
For feeling we have..a variety OF
nerves. Some spots on the skin feel
pain, some warmth. some cold and
some simple touch. The tip of the
finger has a much better sense of
touch than the forearm or the cheek.
But the cheek and the forearm are far
better judges OF heat. In the white