SOME NEW BOOKS. 



THE SENSE OF HEARING. 



L' Audition et ses organes. By Dr. M. E. Gelle. 8vo, pp. 326, Math 67 figs. 

 (Bibliotheque Scientifique Internationale). Paris: Felix Alcan, 1899. 

 Price 6 francs. 



This is a work of great interest, in which the author has brought together 

 the results of modern scientific investigation on the structure and functions of 

 the ear. It is divided into three chapters, the first dealing with sonorous 

 vibrations, the second with the structure of the ear, and the third with auditory 

 sensations. In the first there is a fairly complete discussion of the physical 

 phenomena of sound — duration, intensity, timbre — but the application of 

 Ohm's law regarding the composition of compound vibrations, and of Fourier's 

 theorem to the analysis of curves, has not received much attention. It is 

 impossible to obtain an adequate conception of the phenomena of hearing 

 without the aid of these fundamental principles. The novelty of Dr. Gelle's 

 book is that, for the first time, there is a systematic study of phonograms, or 

 the tracings made on the wax cylinder of the phonograph. Many examples 

 of these tracings are given from the writings of Hermann, M'Kendrick, Maragi, 

 and Marichelle, in which the curious marks are seen, both as depicted by 

 photography, as by Marichelle's method, and by graphic tracings, as recorded 

 by the method of M'Kendrick. These tracings show many of the phenomena 

 of tone to the eye of the observer ; the number of the marks in a given time 

 (or the duration of each mark) indicating pitch, the depth of the mark intensity, 

 and the character or form of the mark quality or timbre. The interpretation 

 of the curves, as photographed from above, is, however, much more difficult 

 than that of the curves traced by a graphic method, and much yet remains to 

 to be done. Dr. Gelle shows the marks or curves obtained from tracings of 

 musical tones, as produced by various instruments, and also the tracings of 

 syllabic sounds and words. 



The character of a word is clearly brought out. It is a series of more or 

 less explosive sounds linked together by vowel tones, each sound and tone 

 having its own peculiar record of vibrations, the number of which depends on 

 the length of time occupied in the pronunciation of each phone, or distinct and 

 separate sound. Little has yet been done in the analysis of consonantal sounds 

 and syllabic sounds, so that we may regard this department of phonetics as still 

 in its infancy. The time may come when the educated eye, even from a tracing 

 of nature's long-hand system of recording vibrations, will be able to recognise 

 the word recorded ; but at present that is impossible. 



The only part of the second chapter calling for special notice is the elaborate 

 description given of the deep roots of the auditory nerve. It is certainly 

 remarkable that this nerve has more intricate connections with various parts of 

 the encephalon than are possessed by any other nerve. As this is the case, 



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