Clarke courier. [volume] (Berryville, Va.) 1869-1997, 1908-09-16
OUR ERRATIC SENSES
Some of the Curious Facts Re-
corded by Psychologists.
THE PHENOMENA OF SOUND.

squesis OF Mice and the Lowest Notes
Of an Organ Are lnSudiSle to SSr'e
persons--Peeuliaritie Of the Deli.
cate Sense Of Smell.
n you shade the eyes. you weakea
your sense OF hearing Try il with a
watch aud the result will surprise you.
II YOU sip glass Of cold water. you
will increase for short time your
power OF vision. IL you till 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
I'm the world every day. for instance.
which we cannot hear. however close
they may be. Every sound must last Il
certain time I'm order To- be heard by
the ear. IL IL is an extremely feeble
sound II must last quite two seconds
or we cannot hear II Eut. mo matter
how long it lasts. we cannot hear 1t II
1 II 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
Ii 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? II is a question OF
the space within the nose capable of
smelling In man this space is very
small-less than one-fourth OF n square
inch. In dogs and most mammals IL
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 vulturcs scenting dead
bodies they make n mistake Lions.
tigers. wolves. etc. can scent them NJ
long distances. but vulturcs depend on
their sense OF sight
The sense OF smell is exceedingly del
icate. II one ounce OF musk were di-
vided into l5.o00.O00.O0O PARTS one OF
these inhnitesimal parts would he per
! ceptih,e by the average persons nose.
ON the other hand. many people have
no power 10 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 navors. At the tip we per-
ceive sweet tastes best. NJ the sides
acid tastes and at the back bitter
tastes. Substances must bc dissolved
In order to be tasted, and dry morsel
In dry mouth has no flavor. This Is
why smokers cannot taste we'll Their
mouth glands. which manufacture sa-
Iva. are paralyzed by the tobacco
Very hot or very cold things are scarce
ly tasted ~ all. II you want 20 get
the best flavor from your food IL must
be at some temperature between 20
and % degrees.
Every one knows how easily the
sense OF sight is deceived by optical
puzzles. But curious deception is
practiced on us all throughout our
lives, and no one ever perceives IT,
There is a blind spot In the eve where
the optic nerve enters. In everything
we look ut. therefore. there Is a little
gap where we see nothing. But no one
Is aware OF IL. because &c 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.
l \
will each form an image OF the same
size on the eye. We know the noun
tain Is farther away than the hin be-
cause there are more Intervening OBJ
Jects. But we can often make an eSti-
mate OF distance. In curious way. by
the muscles of the eycban. In order
to focus near object we must bulge
the lens. and 10 focus n distant object
we must fiatten the lens The amount
or muscular labor used In doing this
gives us an idea OF the distance OF the
object
A man seems much thinner i'm dark
than In light clothing. All black things.
In fact. appear smaller than white
things or the same size. An image re-
mains ON the eye for some time after
looking at an object II the thing. il
very bright the image remains n long
time, and sometimes II you look direct
iy at the sun you will carry the image
or 1t around with you for days.
Color blind people have n 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 an.
pies and tomatoes and Strawberries
and green pickles taste better than the
selfsame vegetables and fruit when
they are paler.
For feeling we have n variety of
nerves. Some spots on the skin feel
pain. some warmth some cold and
some simple touch. The tip of the
niger has Il much better sense of
touch than the forearm or the check
But the cheek and the forearm are far
better judges OF heat In the white
OF the eye we can feel neither touch
heat nor cold-only pain alone-but the
red lining OF the eyelids can feel
| scarcely ANYTHING hut cold M