The Detroit times. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1903-1920, 1913-10-25
Notes of Prof. Frank k0hler'5
Violin Arouse Long Dormant
Auditory Sense
WOMAN'S ENTIRE BODY
QUIVERS WITH SHOCK
Responds Readily to Notes Play
ed When Instrument Is
Clenched in Teeth


most dumb since q Iever robbed her
of these faculties at the age OF Ia
months, has at last been enabled to
hear" the tone OF q violin and to sp
preciate the wonder Of musical
harmony. Prof. Franz kohler, of the
} Oberlin Conservatory of Music, and
formerly the concert meister of Pitts
burgh orchestra, under Emil Pauer
after q series of experiments, was able
to penetrate the deadwall OF her use
less eardrums and arouse some dor
mant auditory power that responded
to the powerful low D he played on
the q string.
Miss Keller's utter amusement at
the new sensation of hearing this
thing which was called music was
intense. Her whole body Quivered
with excitement. and when some par.
ticular note seemed to make her feel
the most, she shook with spasm Of
emotion a. IL she was q very part
Of the violin.
Mrs. Macy. Helen's teacher, declares
that II In q miracle" since her pupil
has never had any knowledge Of mu.
steal tones. and that the feat of sing
Ing the scale before the lnterna.
tional biological congress at Harvard
Medical school In Boston last sum.
mer. which attracted such worldwide
attention to Miss Keller, was q pure
ly mechanical result obtained by
muscular control Of the throat and
vocal cords.
Prof. Kohler used a Stradivarius
made in 1922, the golden age" when
Anton Strad1varius turned out his
most perfect work. Improvising
through three octaves, he finally
struck . low d ON the G string. which
seemed to first arouse Miss Keller's
new faculty of hearing"
In order to get the most direct
communication between his instru-
ment and Miss Keller's sensitive
brain, he had her clench her teeth
tightly on the scroll OF the violin.
This enabled the vibrations to travel
instantly up the lower maxillary
bones to the lower lobes Of the brain
where they set up a responsive VI.
bration and established first physic
feeling and later some dormant aud.
TORY Bower.
Miss Keller later. Of her own &C.
cord. transferred the violin's scroH
from her mouth to the cheek bone.
just above and In front of her right
ear. There she pressed Il 90 insist.
emily that her flesh was discolored
after the tests were finished. The
vibrations Of the violin. according to
Prof. Kohler. are so penetrating and
indisteut that they will pferce
through almost any solid substance,
and II It Is not too thick will set 1t
vibrating In response. He quotes the
instance of several music halls where
the violin tones have gained sufiicient
vibrating intensity that the steel
Orders at the top have been shaken
from their rigid setting.
Prof. Kohler first experienced on
q deaf and dumb girl at Oberlin
college. whom he was able to teach
TO differentiate between violin tones
Of two intervals. He declares that
while the ear drum Is the medium
by which sound Impressions are con.
veyed to the human brain, II Is not
20 In all creatures. Many small an
sects and beetles seem to be more re-
sp0nsive to sound of reiterated
character than to any which would
appeal to the human brain. In other
words. the physical feeling OF vibra-
ton seems to have quite as sure an
effect to any creature sensitive to Il
as does the symbolic sound. such as
words and familiar harmonies and
characteristic noises to the intelli.
gence.
There are myriads Of sounds in the
universe which are never heard by
the human ear It's range -is very
limited.
And there are many sounds either
too low or too high for the human ear
to catch. Yet these other sounds
have an equally important place in
the world Of tone. You have seen the
experiment where flame within q
glass chimney can be almost extin-
guished by the rapid vibrations Of a
shr4l violin tone. II Is the same way
WITH beetles and small insects which
are (nhuenced by sound and the physi-
cal feeling OF vibrations.
Now. In Miss Keller's case, there
Ing to external elements than the
lers fingers will recognize an old
fr1@dd. Vhom she has not met for ten
yeafs, by the hand clasp. She can
49, Wv wOuuu Vi 0IC6J uuOICuV0
app3auding her, because her feet
hear the vibrations Of the floor on
which she stands. Her mental facul.
ties; are moro keenly alert to these
strange manifestations, which the
senses Of average folks are never con.
s0ious Of. So that when she first felt
the physical sensation Of the violin
vibrations and attuned herself more
and more carefully to differentiate. she
was not long in arousing whatever
auditory power was left to her. And
the fact that she can now catch the
hsemony like tho voices of singing
angels proves that the fever which
robbed her Of hearing did not take
from her all auditory power"
Professor Kohler went on to state
that he has found many instances
whore deaf people who we're robbed OF
hearing by some sickness or accident,
still retained large amount of aud.
Sory power. and that when communi-
cation n properly established they
are able to distinguish musical tones
and catch . glimpse of real harmony.
The effect on her personally Of this
experisuce was unique. When theyvi-
! bration gave her the flrst dis& Act
shock Of hearing" she shook witKaa
convu1sive spasm Ias n she herself
were part Of the violin to which she
Was sSnsins. AaA 1t each repetition