60 EARS 



But Nature surely did not intend the ear for this 

 purpose. Then what did she intend ? A popular 

 error is that the ears are given to hear with, but the 

 ears cannot hear. The hearing is done by a box 

 of assorted instruments (malleus, incus, stapes, etc.) 

 hidden in a burrow which has its entrance inside 

 of the ear. If you argue that the ears are intended 

 to catch sounds and direct them down to the hearing 

 instrument, then explain their absurd shape. They 

 are useless. A man who wants to hear distinctly 

 puts his hand to his ear. And why do they not 

 turn to meet the sounds that come from different 

 quarters ? They are absolutely immovable, and 

 therefore also expressionless. A savage expresses 

 his mind with all the rest of his face ; he smiles and 

 grins and pouts and frowns, but his ears stand like 

 gravestones with the inscriptions effaced. How 

 different is the case when you turn from man to the 

 " irrational " animals ! The eyes of a fawn are 

 lustrous and beautiful, but they would be as mean- 

 ingless as polished stones without the eloquent ears 

 that stand behind them and tell her thoughts. 

 Curiosity, suspicion, alarm, anger, submission, 

 friendliness, every emotion that flits across her 

 quick, sensitive mind speaks through them. They 

 are in touch with her soul, and half the music of 

 her life is played on them. And if you abstract 

 yourself from individuals and look at that thing, the 

 ear, in the wide field of life, what a great, living 

 reality it is !— a spiritual unity under infinite diver- 



