82 UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI STUDIES 



The preceding paragraphs must impress us with the per- 

 plexity of our situation. We want to comprehend the facts 

 of audition as depending on the structure 

 q,, , , and function of the sense organ. But every 



more accurate endeavor to enter into the details of the 



and detailed function of the organ is thwarted by the 



anatomical poverty and inaccuracy of our anatomical 



knowledge knowledge. We cannot obtain a definite 



idea of the intensities of the various physi- 

 ological processes resulting from a compound aerial wave un- 

 less we know exactly the manner of increase in width of the 

 partition. It is not sufficient to know that it increases first 

 rapidly, then slowly. We need a very exact measurement 

 of the width of succeeding cross-sections of the partition and 

 of the distance of each of them from the beginning of the par- 

 tition near the windows. 



On the other hand, we need also a much more detailed 

 and accurate comparison of the relative intensities of the 

 components of stronger and weaker com- 

 rp. , , pound sounds, based on psychological ex- 



more accurate perimentation and observation. Thus far, 



observation of the practically nothing in this regard is known 

 psychological with exactness. It is to be hoped that, in 



facts of hearing spite of the extraordinary technical diffi- 

 culties and the costliness of the apparatus 

 required for such investigations, an accurate knowledge of 

 these psychological facts will be obtained. We need this 

 knowledge because some of the constants contained in the 

 mechanical theory may never become directly measurable, for 

 example, the elastic properties of the partition, and, therefore, 

 will have to be inferred from their psychological conse- 

 quences. 



