MUSICAL EAR. 195 



606. Musical Ear situated in the Brain. But if if. be 

 objected that the" above is a rare and extraordinary case, 

 and tends to prove that the tympanum may be dispensed 

 with, in ordinary hearing, as well as in the constitution 

 of a musical ear ; still, setting this case aside, we find 

 that those who have no ears for music, are equally, with 

 the most enthusiastic amateurs, capable of distinguishing 

 every kind of sound, from the full peal of the organ to 

 the evanescent tones of the Eolian harp. His sense of 

 hearing, therefore, is equally perfect, with that of a most 

 skilful musician ; and consequently there is every reason 

 to believe that his mere physical organ is just as nicely 

 constructed. Indeed, there does not .seem to be any re- 

 lation between a musical ear and mere delicacy of hear- 

 ing. 



607. If these considerations be admitted, and it is be- 

 lieved no one will deny them, then we must admit also 

 that the soul-stirring effects of harmony depend on the or- 

 ganization of the brain, and not on that of the ear. And 

 this is the opinion of several recent physiologists of the 

 first class. " Speech," says Broussais, " is heard, and re- 

 peated by all men, who are not deprived of their auditory 

 sense, because they are all endowed with celebral organi- 

 zation, fit to procure for them distinct ideas on the subject. 

 Music, when viewed as a mere noise, is also heard by 

 every one ; but it furnishes ideas sufficiently clear to be 

 reproduced and communicated by those individuals only, 

 whose frames are organized in a manner adapted to this 

 kind of sensation." 



608. Singular Defects in certain Ears. The late Dr. 

 Wollaston, in the Philosophical Transactions for 1820, de- 

 scribes several peculiarities in certain ears, which appear 

 to have no defects in their organization, or capacity "of 

 receiving common sounds, not even in the perception of 

 musical harmony, but are insensible to certain acute 

 sounds. The writer himself found that his ear was insen- 

 sible to any sound higher than six octaves above the mid- 

 dle E of the piano. In several other persons he found a 

 similar insensibility to acute sounds of a certain kind. 

 Thus some could not hear the chirp of a grasshopper; 



