Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1908-09-04
OUR ERRAT|C SENSES
Some of the Curious Facts Re-
corded by Psychologists.
THE PHENOMENA OF SOUND.

o4ueatS OF VitSS CIV s'S
of an Organ Are lnsudible to Some
Persons-PecuIiarities of the Deli.
cate Sense Of Smell.
If you shade the eyes, you weaken
YOUR sense Of hearing. Try 1t with a
watch and the result will surprise you.
If you sip a glass Of cold water, you
will increase for short time your
power of vision. If you fill 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 multitude OF sounds made
in the world every day, for instance,
which we cannot hear, however close
they may be. Every sound must iast
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 it lasts, we cannot near II Ii
it is a very low or very high note.
Extremely small animals emit such
high notes that we never hear them'
Some people cannot even hear Tue
soueal of mice. The lowest notes OF
an organ are mere rumbling noises TO
most people, and some cannot near
them at all.
# is by means of the external ear we
iudee the direction from which SOUND
comes. Stand facing q clock, place
your hands in front of your ears, WIN
the palms turned back, close your eyes;
YOU will thcr think the clock is Dehind
you.
Why can some animals smell more
keenly than others? 1t is question Oh
the space within the nose capable Oh
smelling. In man this space Is very
small-less than one-fOurth OF square
inch. In dogs and most mammals II
Is very much larger. The porpoise mas
M sense of SMELL Then comes man,
and also the monkeys, whales ana all
kinds of fowl and birds, with very
feeble smelling power. When PEG,
ple taIks~of yultures seeming dead
bodies they make mistake. Lions,
tigers. wolves, etc., can scent them ut
long distances, but vultures depend Oh
their sense Of sight.
The sense Of smell Is exceedingly del
icate. If one ounce Of musk were d.
vided into 15,O0O,0O0000 parts one OF
these infnitesimal parts would be per-
ceptible by the average persons nose
On the other hand, many people have
| no mower to smell some substances,
such as mignonette, vanilla, violets and
prussic acid.
Taste is curious in the fact that dlf-
ferent parts Of the tongue appreciate
different flavors. At the tip we per-
ceiye sweet tastes best, at the SIDES
acid tastes and at the back Dlttel
tastes. Substances must be dissolved
in order to be tasted, and a dry morsel
in O dry mouth has no flavor. Ihls Is
why smokers cannot taste well. Then
mouth glands. which manufacture sd
Iva, are paralyzed by the tobacco
Very hot or very cold things are scarce
" tasted at ALL If you want to gel
the best flavor from your food 1t mus
be at some temperature between OF
and 95 degrees.
Every one knows how easily the
sense of sight Is deceived by optical
puzzles. But curious deception Il
practiced on us all throughout oul
lives. and no one ever perceives 1t
There is a blind spot In the eye where
the optic nerve enters. In everything
we look at, therefore, there is little
gap where we see nothing. But no one
is aware of it, because 1t 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
will each form an image Of the same
size on the eye. We know the noun
tain is farther away than the hill be
cause there are more intervening OBJ
iects. But we can often make an estf
mate of distance, in curious way, BY
the muscles Of the eyebal. In ordel
to focus near object we must bulge
the lens, and to focus distant ObJec
we must flatten the lens. The amour
of muscular labor used in doing thii
gives us an idea of the distance of TIT
object.
A man seems much thinner in darl
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 afte
looking at an object. If the thing Il
very bright the image remains loni
time, and sometimes If you look direct
ly at the sun you will carry the imag
Of It around with you for days.
Color blind people have a defectiv
musical sense. They confuse differen
notes, and, curiouslys the confusion o
green blind people. differs from tn
confusion of red blind people. Color
strengthen the sensefof taste. Red ap
pies and tomatoes and strawberrie
and green pickles taste better than tn
selfsame vegetables and fruit whel
they are paler.
For feeling we have a variety o
nerves. Some spots on the skin fee
pain, some warmth, some cold ant
some simple touch. The tip Of tn
finger has much better sense o
touch than the forearm or the cheek
But the cheek and the forearm are ia
better judges Of heat. In the whit
Of the eye we can feel neither touch
heat nor cold-only pain alone-but tn
red lining Of the eyelids can fee