Jasper County Democrat, Volume 3, Number 28, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 October 1900 — THE AUDITORY SENSE. [ARTICLE]

THE AUDITORY SENSE.

Pedro de I‘once, a Benedictine monk of Spain, established a school for the deaf in 1570. The ears of the cuttle fish or octopus are located In the creature’s body, near to the base of the feelers. The hairs In the ear of a cat are so sensitive that If touched, as with a pencil, the animal shudders. Sea slugs not only hear, but a repaid by naturalists to emit sounds somewhat resembling the ticking of a clock. In 1870 the first deaf-mute clergyman was ordained. He was an Episcopalian, and the ordination took place in Philadelphia. Many deaf persons can hear music distinctly by placing one end of a cane upon the piano and holding the other to the teeth. Among many tribes of Africans the bored holes in the ears are so large that a stick an Inch in diameter can b* thrust through. Switzerland, to the million Inhabit- ‘ ants, has 2,620 deaf mutes, the greatest proportion of any country; next come, Austria with 980; then Germany with 770. Frogs and toads have remarkably acute hearing. The slightest noise la the vicinity of a pond will at once attract the attention of the frogs and put them on their guard. The vibrations collected by the external ear are passed by means of the tympanum through three small bones on to the Interior ear, where they are distributed to the nervous centers. / Tests of oil as fuel, made in the navy, have not so far proven satisfactory. Patent fuel, made of oil dust and tar, was found to yield nearly as good results as coal. A bicycle that In five minutes can be taken apart and packed In a bag 24x16 inches has been invented by an ingenious Frenchman. *