THE HYGIENE OF THE EAR. i 39 



the Fraunhofer lines of the solar spectrum, and the bright lines of ter- 

 restrial elements. A glance at Fig. 19 will show at once the result of 

 this investigation. The brightest line (1) of the nebula coincides ex- 

 actly with the brightest line (N) of the spectrum of nitrogen, which is 

 a double line. The faintest of the nebular lines (3) also coincides with 

 the bluish-green hydrogen Hue H0, or, which is the same thing, with 

 the Fraunhofer line F in the solar spectrum. The middle line (2) of 

 the nebula was not found to coincide with any of the bright lines of 

 the thirty terrestrial elements with which it has been compared ; it 

 lies not far from the barium line Ba, but is not coincident with it. 



THE HYGIENE OF THE EAR. 



By JAMES HINTON, 



AUBAL SURGEON TO GUY'S HOSPITAL, LONDON. 



IT is natural that we should regard with an intense curiosity all the 

 faculties with which our bodily frame is gifted, and that we should 

 desire to preserve them as perfectly as possible. The following re- 

 marks are designed to do something toward gratifying that curiosity 

 with regard to one of the most important of our powers, and to give a 

 few hints in respect to things that are hurtful to it. 



Our popular physiologies teach us that there is a tube leading from 

 the drum of the ear into the throat, called, from its discoverer Eus- 

 tachius, the "Eustachian tube." The use of this tube is twofold. 

 First, it supplies the drum with air, and keeps the membrane exactly 

 balanced, and free to move, with equal air-pressure on each side ; and, 

 secondly, it carries off any fluid which may be in the drum, and pre- 

 vents it from being choked by its own moisture. It is not always 

 open, however, but is opened during the act of swallowing, by a little 

 muscle which is attached to it just as it reaches the throat. Most per- 

 sons can distinctly feel that this is the case, by gently closing the nose 

 and swallowing ; when a distinct sensation is felt in the ears. This 

 sensation is*due to a little air being drawn out of the ears through the 

 open tube during swallowing ; and it lasts for a few minutes, unless 

 the air is again restored by swallowing with the nose unclosed, which 

 allows for the moment a free communication between the ear and the 

 throat. We thus see a reason for the tube being closed. If it were 

 always open, all the sounds produced in the throat would pass directly 

 into the drum of the ear, and totally confuse us. We should hear 

 every breath, and live in a constant bewilderment of internal sounds. 

 At the same time the closure, being but a light contact of the walls of 

 the tube, easily allows a slight escape of air from the drum, and thus 

 not only facilitates and regulates the oscillations of the air before the 



