PHYSIOLOGICAL PARADOXES. 



irregularly, in various positions, such as A, B, 

 C, D, E, F (Fig. 57), all in the fore and aft 

 plane through the centre of the head, and the 

 sitter is asked to guess each time from which 

 direction the sound came. To neutralise in- 

 dications given by the sound of moving limbs 

 or sleeves, each performer moves his hands 

 each time to some other positions in the central 

 plane. 



The sitter has surprisingly little power 

 in fact, no power, of judging whence the sound 

 proceeds. He may guess rightly sometimes ; 

 but it is a mere guess, and owing to the greater 

 number of possible wrong positions than of right 

 positions, his wrong guesses are much the more 

 numerous. He will frequently guess that the 

 sound comes from D when it comes from A, and 

 will mistake a sound from F for one from C. 



It is true that something can be learned as 

 to direction, but not by the ear alone. The 

 facts presented by the ear are worked up by 

 the reason, though so quickly sometimes that 

 it seems instinct rather than reason that is 

 at work. In the above experiment, if the click 

 be made to one side of the middle line, the 

 sound is heard more distinctly by the ear on 

 that side, and the sitter at once gives a correct 

 indication as to the side. So, when we want 

 to judge on which side a cuckoo is calling, we 

 find by trial that position of the head in which 

 the sound is loudest for one ear, and if, on turn- 



250 



