The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1909-01-19
PHENOMENA OF SOUND

equeaIs Of Mice and the Lowest Notes
Of an Organ Are Inaudibls to Some
Persons--Peeuliarities Of the Deli
cate Sense Of Smell.
II you shade the eyes, you weaken
your sense OF hearing. Try II with a
watch and the result will surprise you.
IL you sip glass Of cold water, you
win increase for a short time your
power OF vision. II 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 last
certain time In order to be heard by
the ear. II It is an extremely feeble
sound 1t must last quite two seconds
or we cannot hear It. But, no matter
how long 1t lasts, we cannot hear 1t II
1t is a very low or q 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 a clock, place
your hands in front of your ears, with
the palms turned back, close your eyes;
you win then think the clock ID behind
you.
why can some animals smell more
keenly than others? 1t Is question Of
the space within the nose capable Of
smelling. In man this space Is very
small--less than one-fourth OF square
inch. In dogs and most mammals It
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 yultures seeming dead
bodies they make 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. If one ounce of musk we're d. |
yIded 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 as mignonette. vanilla, violets and
prussIc acid.
Taste is curious in the fact that diff.
ferent parts of the tongue appreciate I
different 1avors. At the tip we per
ceiye sweet tastes best. at the sides
acid tastes and at the back bitter
tastes. Substances must be dissolved
in order to be tasted. and dry morSel
In dry mouth has no flavor. This Is
why smokers cannot taste well. Theii
mouth glands. which manufacture sa-
Iva. are paralyzed by the tobacco
Very hot or very cold things are scarce,
" tasted at all If you want to get
the best favor from your food II 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 is
practiced on us all throughout our
lives, and no one ever perceives It.
There is blind spot in the eve where
the optic nerve enters. In everything
we look at. therefore. there is little
gap where ne see nothing. But no one
Is aware of II. because It has been the
rase 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 distant mountain
win 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
Iects. But we can often make an esti.
mate Of distance. In a curious way. by
The muscles of the eyebaIl. In order
10 focus near object we must bulge I
he lens. and to focus a distant object
We must hatten the lens, The amount }
# muscular labor used In doing this
yives us an idea Of the distance Of the
'bject
A man seems much thinner 10 dark
han In light clothing. All black things.
n fact. appear smaller than white :
hings Of the same size. An image re- J
mains on the eve for some time after
ooking at an object If the thing II :
-ery bright the image remains q long {
ime. and sometimes II ron iook direct.
= at the SUB ysu VII carry the image
4 II around with you for days
Color blind people have q defective
nusical stsse. They confuse different 2
q