Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 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
Of an Organ Are lnaudibIe to Some
Observation-Disclosures Of the Deli
cate Sense Of Smell.

SaNS ScHsS w SHiNh'
II you shade the eyes. YOU weaken
your sense of hearing Try it with u
watch and the result VIII surprise sou.
If YOU sip Il glass OF cold water, you
will increase for sh1r, 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 mndc
m the world every day, for instance
which we cannot hear. however close
they may lie. Every sound must last At
certain time in order To- bc heard by
the car II II Is un extremely feeble
sound II must last quite two seconds
or we cannot hear it, But up matter
how long Ii lasts. we cannot hear II II
IL is very low or u very high note.
Extremely small animals emit such
high notes that we never hear them.
Some people cannot even hear the
squcai Of mice The lowest notes of
an organ are mere rumhling noises 10
most people. and some cannot hear
them at all
1t is Icy 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
kecnly than others: II i Il question "f
the space within the nose capable OF
smelling In man this space Is very
small less than one fourth Of Il square
inch In dogs aud most mammals II
Is yery much larger. The porpoisc 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 pco-
pie talk OF vultures seeming dead
bodies they make Il mistake. Lions.
tigers. wolves. etc. can scent them ut
long distances, hut vultmres depend ON
their sense OF sight
The sense Of smell Is exceedingly del.
icate If one ounce OF musk were III
vided into $4,000 100000 parts one OF
these iniinltcsimal parts would Ice per
ccptible by the average persons nose.
on the other hand. many people have
no power 10 smell some substances.
such as miguonette vanilla. vlolets and
prussic acid.
Taste Is curious IN the fact that diff
fercnt parts Of the tongue appreciate
different tiavors At the Zip wc per
ceivc sweet tastes best nj he sides
acid tastes aud nj the back bitter
tastes Substances must be dissolved
IN order to be tasted. and n dry morSel
In dry mouth has no flavor This IS
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
~ tasted ~ all II You want to get
the best flavor from your food II must
lie NJ some temperature between 10
and ~ degrees
Every one knows how easily the
sense Of sight Is deceived by optical
puzzles But II curious deception X
pr,cticcd on us all throughout our
lives. and no one ever perccivcS II.
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 Il. 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.
\ near hlll and Il distant mountain
viii each form an Image ~ the same
size on the eye We know the noun
tain is farther away than the hill he.
cause there are more intcry ening oh
jects. Hut we can often make m csti-
mate of distance. IA n curious way by
the muscles " the cychal In order
to focus near object We must bulge
the lens and to focus n distant object
we must nattcn the lens The amount
Of muscular labor used IN doing this
gives us an idea Of the distance Of the
object
\ 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 ut nm object II the thing Is
very bright the image remains long
time. and sometimes II you look direct.
ly NJ the sun you VIII carry the Image
pf IL around with YOU for days
Color blind people have defective
musical sense. They confuse different
notes. and. curlously. the confusion ~
green blind people differs from the
confusion of red blind people Colors
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 variety ~
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 ~