SO.ME SENSE DEFECTS CONSIDERED 

 PSYCEIOLOGICALLY. 



Bv the Rev. Fredi:rick Charles Kolbe, B.A., D.D. 



With tzco test figures. 



The old dictum that exceptions prove the rule is never 

 better exeniplihed than in the light which pathology throws on 

 normal processes. Unfortunately for psychology the victims of 

 the pathological condition are often least able to tell their expe- 

 rience. To give such testimony usefully requires not only 

 scientific observation and a knowledge of psychological demands, 

 but also freedom from bias in self-inspection. Many, otherwise 

 competent, are fanciful or untrustworthy in describing their own 

 symptoms. 



As in this paper I am utilising ni}- own experience, I ought 

 to prove my possession of this threefold qualification. 



When I went to London a good many years ago to be 

 treated by an aurist, I was recommended to choose Dr. Woakes, 

 of Harle}' Street, who was described to me as brusque and laconic, 

 a sort of Abernethy. 1 put together an account of all my 

 observations and experiments on myself, and handed the paper 

 to him at our first interview. " It may save some words to read 

 this, doctor," I said. He took it with a cynical smile, as who 

 should say, " I have seen this sort of thing before." But the 

 smile died ofi: his face as he read, and at the end of it he looked 

 hard at me, and read it all over again carefully. Then, abruptly : 

 "May I keep this paper?" "Certainly, doctor. I wrote it for 

 you." " It is the best statement of a case by a layman that I 

 have ever seen. I don't need to ask you a single question. Come 

 and sit down here." Then he began working on me. 



I write this, not for any self-satisfaction in the telling, but 

 as an indication to strangers that my testimony is likely to have 

 two of the above-mentioned qualities, namely, accuracy of scien- 

 tific observation and freedom from fanciftil bias. The third, 

 namely, the psychological, will (I hope) reveal itself in the 

 course of my paper. 



I have the misfortune to be a first-hand authority on defects 

 of both hearing and sight. I shall begin with the former. 



The defect I am to discuss is due to a gradual collapse of 

 the Eustachian tube, the result probably of a local flabbiness of 

 muscle, which also relaxes the tension of the drum. Any 

 stretching of these muscles would be a temporary remedy. After 

 a yawn, I used to hear for a moment perfectly well. I used 

 also to be able, holding mouth and nose, to force air into the 

 Eustachian tube, with the same result. 



The consequence of this condition is that all except very 

 soft sounds are perceived, but with a l)hnTcd outline. It is like 



