Do We Hear Sound? 7 



the Scala vestibuli. The membranes are, in other words, 

 damping in effect — just as the iris and choroid are part 

 of the light-proofing arrangement of the eyeball. 

 We are at once in a position to argue according 

 to this theory why individuals with ossicles gone may 

 hear. We are also able to state why greater energies 

 are required to hear low pitches than high pitches. We 

 may explain the failure of the sound-proofing of the end- 

 organ when sufficient energies of high pitch are applied 

 to the surface of the individual. 



It may be well therefore in our investigation of sound 

 sources and of subjective sound registration to bear in 

 mind tliat we do hear sound itself. We may come to re- 

 gard the apparently crude apparatus of sound transmis- 

 sion as one of highly refined function. We may not be so 

 likely to accept explanations, like the piano-tuners named 

 in Dr. Wead's recent article in Science, merely because 

 these explanations appear clear. If we do hear sound 

 perhaps something may be done in time for certain 

 conditions of deafness. One reason why fifty years of 

 research has contributed nothing to treatment of the un- 

 fortunate who cannot hear, may be due to an erroneous 

 conception of the mechanics involved. The writer de- 

 sires to place himself on record on the side of the popular 

 rather than the scientific explanation. We do hear 

 sound ! 



