The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1908-09-05
OUR ERRAT|C SENSES
Some of the Curious Facts Re.
corded by Psychologists.
THE PHENOMENA OF SOUND.

Squeais Of Mice and the Lowest Notes
Q. en- Organ Are tnaudibis TO Some
Observation-Disclosures Of the Deli
cato Sense of Smell.
IL you shade the eyes, you weaken
your sense OF hearing. Try 10 with
watch and the result will surprise you.
II you sip q glass OF cold water. You
Will increase for a short time your
power of vision IL 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 q multitude OF sounds made
In the world every day. for instance.
which we cannot hear. however close
they may be. Every sound must last
certain time in order TO be heard by
the ear. Ii IL is an extremely feeble
sound 1t must last quite two seconds
or we cannot hear It But, no matter
how long IL lasts, we cannot hear it IL
1t 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 the
soueal 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 q clock. place
your hands In front of your ears. with
the palms turned back. close your eyes:
you viii then think the clock is behind
you.
why can some animals smell more
keenly than others? 1t is a question of
the space within the nose capable of
smelling. In man this space is very
small-less than one-fourth of a 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 yultures depend on
their sense of sight
The sense of smell Is exceedingly del
icate. II one ounce of musk were d.
vided into $4,000. 100000 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 al mignonette. vanilla, violets and
prussic acid.
Taste IN curious In the fact that diff.
ferent parts Of the tongue appreciate
different navors. At the tip we per.
| ceive sweet tastes best. 1T the sides
| acid tastes and at the back bitter
tastes. Substances must be dissolved
| in order to be tasted, and dry morsel
| in a dry mouth has no flavor. This Il
| why smokers cannot taste well. Their
mouth glands. which manufacture sa
| Iva, are paralyzed by the tobacco
Very hot or very cold things are scarce
ly tnsted at all. IL you want to get
the best flavor from your food 1t must
be at some temperature between 80
and 95 degrees.
| Every one knows how easily the
sense Of sight Is deceived by optical
| puzzles. But a curious deception IL
J practiced on us all throughout our
| lives, and no one ever perceives IL.
There is a 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
is aware Of 1t, because 1t has been the
case since we first opened our eyes.
In estimating distance we Judge by
| the experience we gain i'm walking
The eye itself cannot judge distances.
i A near hill and a distant mountain
| xx-fI1 - he
size on the eye. We know the noun
! tain Is farther away than the hill be
cause there are more intervening OBJ
Jects- But we can often make an esti.
4 mate of distance. In curious way. by
the muscles Of the eyeball. In order
to focus a near object we must bulge
the lens. and to focus a distant object
we must hatten the lens. The amount
OF muscular labor used I'm doing this
gives US an idea of the distance of the
| object.
A man seems much thinner In dark
than I'm 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 IL the thing In
very bright the image remains a long
time, and sometimes IL you look direct
~ at the sun You win carry the image
of it 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. CoIors
strengthen the sense of taste. Red ap-
pies 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 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
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 but cold. The
mouth. as every one knows, can enjoy