EAR EDMONSTONE. 



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EAR, (a.) The loss of hearing very often arises 

 from the state of the internal ear or the brain ; and 

 in most of such cases, all that science can do is 

 to teach the fact, without furnishing a remedy. 

 Very many of the diseases of the organ of sight, on 

 the contrary, are situated in the eye itself, the 

 brain and optic nerve being unaffected, and not a 

 few of these produce partial or total loss of vision. 

 It fortunately happens that many of these cases are 

 within the reach of art, and by a delicate, though 

 not a very difficult operation, the functions of the 

 eye may be restored. But a small proportion, on 

 the other hand, of those diseases of the ear which 

 terminate in deafness, are situated in the external 

 organ, and a few only of these are in the present 

 state of knowledge within our control. 



It is probable that the mere loss of hearing is 

 not so great a privation as the loss of sight ; yet 

 we know that the deaf are ordinarily far less cheer- 

 ful and happy than the blind. This can perhaps 

 be accounted for by the fact, that the loss of hear- 

 ing is more frequently in consequence of a diseased 

 state of the brain, than the loss of sight. Another 

 circumstance also seems to favour this opinion ; 

 and that is, that insane persons are very often deaf, 

 while the sense of sight is rarely affected in them. 



Even when deafness is the consequence of some 

 defect in the external organs, it is not very often 

 that it can be removed by any human means, and 

 still less often by a surgical operation ; differing 

 essentially, in this respect, from the diseases of the 

 eye. 



It is well known that the loss of hearing some- 

 times arises from an obstruction of the Eustachian 

 tube, the canal which runs from the back part of the 

 throat to the cavity of the tympanum. Through 

 this canal the air passes from the mouth, the mem- 

 brane of the tympanum is in this way kept tense, 

 and consequently vibrates better when sounds strike 

 upon it. The air is occasionally prevented by colds 

 in the head, as they are called, and other inflam- 

 matory affections about the throat, from passing 

 through this canal, and so long as the passage is 

 obstructed, the sense of hearing is rendered more 

 or less imperfect. In some cases this obstruction 

 is permanent and complete, and in such cases per- 

 manent deafness is the consequence. 



From a knowledge of the fact, that the mem- 

 brane of the tympanum may be ruptured, and the 

 sense of hearing remain unimpaired, Sir Astley 

 Cooper was led to suggest and practise an opera- 

 tion, in cases of deafness arising from an obstruc- 

 tion of the Eustachian tube, that for a time pro- 

 mised very favourable results. The operation was 

 very simple ; the membrane was merely punctured 

 by some small sharp-pointed instrument like a 

 couching-needle. The air was in this way admit- 

 ted to the cavity of the tympanum, and the tension 

 of the membrane thus restored. In some cases, 

 there was for a time great apparent relief from the 

 operation ; the patients actually heard better, or 

 thought they did ; but the good effects were not 



found to be permanent, and it is now almost alto- 

 gether abandoned. 



EDGEWORTHSTOWN; a small neat town 

 in the county of Longford, Ireland, fifty-two miles 

 W.N.W. from Dublin. It contains about a thou- 

 sand inhabitants, and takes its name from its pro- 

 prietors, the Edge worth family, whose mansion house 

 is here surrounded by tastefully disposed grounds. 

 As the home of Richard Lovell Edgeworth and his 

 distinguished daughter, this place must always be 

 an object of interest to the lovers of science and 

 literature. 



EDMONSTONE, R., an artist of some emi- 

 nence, was born in Kelso in 1794. He was ap- 

 prenticed to a watchmaker, but his attachment to 

 painting was so strong that he soon devoted, un- 

 der many difficulties, his whole time and attention 

 to the study and practice of the art. He brought 

 out his first productions in Edinburgh, where -they 

 attracted considerable attention, and procured him 

 the patronage of baron Hume and other gentlemen 

 of taste, whose friendship he afterwards enjoyed. 

 His success soon induced him to settle in London, 

 where he speedily attained an honourable distinc- 

 tion. He afterwards visited the continent, and 

 remained abroad for some years, residing at Rome, 

 Naples, Florence, and Venice, at all of which 

 places he pursued his studies with so much assi- 

 duity as materially to injure his health. Among 

 his productions painted at Rome, is the picture of 

 the " Ceremony of Kissing the Chains of St Peter," 

 which was exhibited and sold at the British Gal- 

 lery in 1833. At Rome, he experienced a severe 

 attack of fever, from the effects of which his con- 

 stitution never recovered, and which obliged him 

 to relinquish painting for a considerable time. On 

 his return to London, however, at the close of 

 1832, he again zealously commenced his profes- 

 sional labours, but his health, injured by unremit- 

 ting application, gave way, and, in the vain hope 

 of deriving benefit from his native air, he left Lon- 

 don for Kelso, where he died on the 21st Sept. 

 1834. As a painter, Mr Edmonstone practised 

 both in portraits and in works of imagination ; but 

 it was chiefly in the latter he excelled, and to 

 which his inclination turned so forcibly as to in- 

 duce him almost totally to resign the other more 

 lucrative branch of his profession. His works are 

 remarkable for the elevated sentiment which he in- 

 fused into the most simple action or attitude for 

 a fine tone of colouring and for that love of tran- 

 quil beauty which no doubt originated in the bias 

 of his own mind and feelings. He was extremely 

 fond of children, and of introducing them in his pic- 

 tures so much so, that, with one or two excep- 

 tions, he may be said never to have painted a pic- 

 ture in which a child did not form a prominent 

 object. Their infantile attitudes, traits, and ex- 

 pressions, were his continual study and delight; 

 and few artists, however celebrated, can be said to 

 have been more true or happy in rendering their 

 artless graces upon canvas. 



