Review of Reviews, 20/2 j06 



Leading Articles. 



*77 



TRAINING THE DEAF TO HEAR. 



Mr. Alys Hallard, in the World's Work, describes 

 the new treatment of deafness which Konig has 

 introduced by his tonometer in Paris. The tono- 

 meter consists of a very elaborate setting of tuning- 

 forks. Instead of speaking to the deaf person the 

 vibrations of various tuning-forks are sounded in 

 his ear, and it becomes evident that he hears cer- 

 tain vibrations, but not all of them. There are gaps 

 in his organ of hearing which prevent him being 

 able to hear all the complicated sounds of speech. 

 This has revealed the fact that the rupture of the 

 drum of the ear does not cause total deafness, but 

 it makes the sounds appear uniform and less dis- 

 tinct : — 



By means, then, of a collection of tuning-forks which are 

 regulated with absolute precision, and which comprise more 

 than two hundred distinctly different vibrations, from the 

 shrillest to the most sonorous, an acoustic examination of 

 the patient is made, and from the result of this an accu- 

 rate diagnosis of the ear is obtained. As a consequence of 

 the examination, it is known just what the patient can 

 hear, and what he cannot hear. A sketch is then made 

 'on a scientific plan showing the hearing capacity of the 

 person who is to be treated. 



By a series of varied experiments the ear, despite 

 its broken ear-drum, is slowly trained to hear. Suit- 

 able exercise is given in each individual case, and 

 in this manner those who have been practically deaf 

 are gradually restored to hearing. The nervous 

 fibres of the hearing-cells slowly get back their 

 normal capacities. 



EVOLUTION OF THE VOLUNTEERS. 



Captain E. J. King contributes to the United 

 Service Magazine an interesting account of the evolu- 

 tion of the Volunteer force. During the wars of 

 the Roses, in the fifteenth century, the towns of 

 England formed for their defence against lawless 

 supporters of either faction bodies of armed civi- 

 lians known as " trained bands," which were prac- 

 tically municipal Volunteer corps. The trained 

 bands were absorbed in a truly National Militia, 

 but there is mention of trained bands of Volunteer 

 corps n the reign of Charles I., at the Restora- 

 tion in 1660, in the Jacobite rising of 1745. In 

 1758 a sequel to the Militia Act of 1757 allowed 

 parishes to put forward Volunteers to make up their 

 quota of the Militia. " This Act of 1758 marks the 

 birth of the Volunteers." Volunteers were then at- 

 tached as individuals to Militia regiments. In 1778 

 they were formed into companies within those regi- 

 ments, and next year were raised in separate com- 

 panies and attached to those regiments. In 1782 

 Volunteer corps in the modern sense of the term 

 received statutory recognition. The connection with 

 the Militia was severed, and a separate Volunteer 

 force recognised. In 1778 a great army of Volun- 

 teers came into being in Ireland, numbering in 1782, 

 100,177, with I 3° guns. This force secured Free 

 Trade for Ireland, and independence for the Irish 



1803-4, but was subsequently suppressed. In 1794 

 the Act was passed for augmenting the Militia in 

 Great Britain by companies of Volunteers. In 1798 

 the total strength of the Volunteer force was 

 410,000. Volunteers were exempt from service in 

 the Militia, and from the duty on hair powder I 

 The early Volunteers provided their own clothing,, 

 arms and accoutrements, but in in 1794 the Govern- 

 ment supplied them. In 1803 £25 was granted to> 

 each company fifty strong. In the period from 1794 

 to 1803 all Volunteers were paid. In 1808 the local 

 Militia Act converted most of the Yeomanry and 

 Volunteers into Militia. Most of the Volunteers 

 were disbanded in 181 3. Then follows a long break 

 in the history of the Volunteers. In 1858, after 

 Orsir.. '•< ; ttempt to assassinate Napoleon III., French 

 soldiers talked of the ease with which England 

 could be invaded, and almost caused a panic. In 

 1859 it was decided to revive the Volunteer force 

 under the Consolidation Act of 1804: — . 



All expenses were to be borne by the Volunteers, there was- 

 to be no pay, no allowances, no grants of any description, 

 and with the exception that the Government undertook to 

 supply twenty-five ner cent, of the rifles required, the men 

 even had to provide their own weapons. In spite of these- 

 disadvantages the force at once became immensely popular, 

 and corps were formed in almost every district. In a few 

 months 60,000 Volunteers were enrolled, and in less than 

 two years there were over 160,000. 



In the first few years the force was formed mainly 

 from the prosperous middle-classes, but in less than 

 ten years the force was composed mostly from the 

 working-classes. This change involved the Govern- 

 ment bearing more and more of the cost. Now the 

 entire expense of training in camps falls on the 

 State. In 1866 the Volunteers numbered 165,000,. 

 costing £361,000; in 1896 there were 236,000, cost- 

 ing ,£824,600; now there are 225,000; costing 

 ,£1,225,000. 



In the Empire Review Sir Lewis Mitchell, writing 

 on " Southern Rhodesia," says that in Rhodesia " the 

 worst is over." 



Kinderpest and rebellion have failed to shake the con- 

 fidence of the settlers. The African coast fever among 

 cattle lias been grappled with and almost eradicated. The 

 opening-up of the country by means of roads and railways 

 is having its effect. Hospitals, hostels, more exact medi- 

 cal knowledge and crreater precautions on the part of the 

 colonists, are together reducing the risks of malaria. 



Many mistakes have to be rectified, but prospects- 

 are distinctly brightening: — 



I say nothing more of the mining industry, which, use- 

 ful as it is, is not everything. But the pastoral and agri- 

 cultural resources are being more and more recognised as 

 the primary factors in the progress of Rhodesia. The rail- 

 way rates from its natural port of Beira have recently been 

 substantially reduced. Some of the principal companies 

 are offering land to settlers on very reasonable terms, 

 and other companies not carrying out the essential condi- 

 tions of their tenure will be called upon in due course to 

 beneficially occupy or relinquish their holdings. 



He advocates a well-considered system of selected 

 State-emigrated children to Rhodesia, the children 

 to be trained in agricultural pursuits, and duly inden- 

 tured and apprenticed. 



