Sight and hearing, how preserved, and how lost . c. The intricate portions of the ear are little under-stood. Anatomists and physiologists have endea-vored to cover their ignorance by giving manyhard names to the more complicated parts of the ear,the purposes of which are not understood. The labyrinth of the ear has proved a place whereauthors have groped in the dark for many years ;and I have no idea of introducing my reader.,whither he cannot extricate himself without profit-less bewilderment. Figure III., on the next page,furnishes some idea of the form of the internal ear,and of the manner
Sight and hearing, how preserved, and how lost . c. The intricate portions of the ear are little under-stood. Anatomists and physiologists have endea-vored to cover their ignorance by giving manyhard names to the more complicated parts of the ear,the purposes of which are not understood. The labyrinth of the ear has proved a place whereauthors have groped in the dark for many years ;and I have no idea of introducing my reader.,whither he cannot extricate himself without profit-less bewilderment. Figure III., on the next page,furnishes some idea of the form of the internal ear,and of the manner in which it is connected by thecanal with the external ear. In order to convey a more definite impressionwith regard to the uses to which these several partsare adapted, the following quotation is intro- ITS STRUCTURE AND FTS FUNCTIONS. 249 diiced, from the well-kiioTrn aud celebrated Morkof Dr. Paley : The organ of Iiearing consists inan external ear ; is calcnlated, like an ear-trnmpet,to catch and collect the pnlses of air in large Fig. EsPLASATiON.—The external ear is again exhibited. No. 1 points out thecanal leading to the drum. No. 2, the inner surface of the tympanum or 3, tlue eustachian tube. No. 4, the cochlea. No. 5, the vestibule. No. 6,the malleus, one of the four little bones, which together are termed the ossicula,which liinge on to each other, and materially assist tlie function of 7, the incus, another of tliese little bones. No. 8, tlie os obiculare. No. 9,the stapes. This is named from its resemblance to a stirrup, and is the last ofthat little group of bones. No. 10, and the lines leading from it, indicate thjposition of the semicircular canals. 11* 250 THE EAK. quadrupeds, turning to tlie sound and possessing aconfiguration, as well as motion, evidently fittedfor the ofiice ; of a tube which leads into the head,lying at the root of this outward ear, the folds andsinuses thereof tending and conducting the airtowards it; of a thi
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