4 Trans. Acad. Sci. of St. Louis 



arm (malleus) attached to the drum membrane. The last 

 of this chain of bones, the short arm of the lever system, 

 the stapes, is not pointed like a phonograph needle but is 

 broad and is applied to the liquid of the inner ear. The 

 liquid material however obviously cannot respond after 

 the manner of the wax and therefore it shivers as a mass. 

 This mass shiver is not sound any more than is the lat- 

 eral groove in the phonograph record, sound. 



If we concede that the end organ embedded in the liquid 

 is far more sensitive than any phonographic recording 

 method, then the explanation why we do not hear sound 

 is beautifully lucid. The answer to our question is cor- 

 respondingly simple and let us repeat — according to 

 all modern theories of hearing and their name is legion — 

 "We do not hear sound". We hear a mass shiver in the 

 liquid of the inner ear. It is also the writer's contention 

 that this accepted description is not a true statement. 

 The theory thus far presented, may be called the indirect 

 activation theory. Briefly, what are the objections to it? 



It is not a question whether the ear is built after the 

 pattern of a phonograph. Some heating devices have 

 been invented which also resemble the phonograph pat- 

 tern of construction closely. The question is does the 

 ear really record sound like a phonograph? Without 

 going into unnecessary details it can be definitely shown 

 that the drum membrane of the ear does not go in-and-out 

 in response to sound vibrations of minimum or even opti- 

 mum intensity. It can be definitely stated that a hinge op- 

 eration of the ossicles is impossible under the mechanic 

 conditions imposed. It can be shown that the amount of 

 energy applied to the drum membrane under usual op- 

 timum conditions is insufficient to move the mass, dis- 

 regarding all friction and attachments. It has been 

 demonstrated that measurable variations of the drum 

 inorribranc ])osition liave no (»ffect on the licpiid contents 

 of tlie inner ear in the living animal. It is known as a 



