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Show 82 HEARING AND TOUCH. pleasure, we must cultivate the ear ; that is, we must exercise it among pleasant sounds; and where can we do that so well as among the voices of nature. which are all musical, all true, and have no cor~ rupting associations blended with them. The ear is thus well worth the cultivating to as great an extent as possible ; and where that is vigorously ~nd sue~ cessfully done, it wiU accomplish many things. It cannot, indeed, give eyes to the blind, or feet to the lame, but it makes a substitute; and if we may judge by the light hearts and gleesome dispositions · of blind people, as contrasted with the gloom and even moroseness of the deaf, it is probable that a soundless world would be more desolate than a sun~ Jess one. It is quite impossible to say what may be the particular state or action of the air in the curious tubes and labyrinths which make up the beautiful internal cavity of the ear; but it is certain, that the fine membrane called the tympanum is not the organ of hearing; because there have been frequent cases in which deafness has been cured by the de~ struction of that membrane. The sense which it most nearly resembles is that which is called touch, though not that branch of the very complex sense of touch which is made up of a succession of feelings and leads to know ledge, but immediate and in~ stantaneous touch. The one of these gives us no more il'iforma.tion about the object producing it than the other. If a person is sitting, musing in a dreamy revery, with his senses idle about him, and you steal behind him unobserved, and slap your hands smartly together, it will take him some time to find out whether you slapped him or not. Then, as to !he kn~rwledge which is obtained of the object of mured1ate (even pretty smart) touching, the a~ s.urdity of it is well exposed by Butler in these lines:- A FIRM EAR. " Some have been beaten till they know What wood the cudgel's of, by the blow : Or kick'd until they can tell whether A shoe be Spanish or neat leather." sa There are many proofs of a very close resemblance between hearing and instantaneous touching. A sound which grates on the ear produces a tremulous motion in the whole body, and the instances of " setting the teeth on edge," that is, irritating the sensitive substance which lines their sockets, by whetting scythes and sharpening saws, or crushing cinders under the foot, are quite familiar. Hogarth, whose philosophy was as true to nature as his paint~ ing, never was more happy than in the discord of "villanous noises," by which the "Enraged Musi~ cian" is tortured to his very finger-ends, and would have appeared so down to the toes, too, if it had suited the painter to bring them into view. This coincidence of sound and touch is worth knowing and attending to ; not only that we nmy observe nature readily and pleasantly, but that we may, in some instances, do it safely. If a timid man stands high upon an insecure footing, the kin.llv admonition to "hold on," if given too hastily or t0o loudly, is the most likely means of tumbling him down; and on that principle, they who have not familiarized themselves to sudden sounds, so as to distinguish the impression on the ear from an impression on any other part of the body, cannot go safely to those places where nature is seen to the best advantage. He who starts at the crash of a falling stone cannot stand safely on cliffs; and he who shudders when a sea breaks over the bows, dare not rock on a masthead in a gale ; and yet he who has so schooled his senses as to be able to keep them ready, and his mind calm, in those situations, sees views and en~ joys pleasure of which the careless and the timid can have no conception. Collins knew that well, and expressed it beautifullJ~ ·- |