4 Mr. Home's Lecture 



Mr. Hunter, but, from the multiplicity of his engagements, 

 had remained neglected in the cask at the time of his death, and 

 in the following year was dried, to show the proboscis, that it 

 might not be altogether spoiled. 



Upon examining this dried head, the bones had been so much 

 broken, that one of the organs of hearing was altogether want- 

 ing : the other, however, was fortunately entire ; and the mem- 

 brana tympani and small bones, having been little disturbed in 

 the drying of the parts, remained nearly in their natural situation. 



The membrana tympani, and every other part of the organ, 

 were found to be much larger in proportion than in other qua- 

 drupeds, or in man ; differing in this respect from the eye of 

 the elephant, which is unusually small, when compared with 

 the enormous bulk of the animal. 



The membrane was found of an oval form ; the short dia- 

 meter of the oval rather more than an inch in length ; the long 

 diameter an inch and —^ths. 



In the human ear, the membrana tympani is nearly circular; 

 the longest diameter is ^%ths of an inch ; the shortest j^-ths. 



As the membrane in the elephant exceeds that of the human 

 ear in thickness as much as in extent, which is as the squares 

 of their diameters, or in the proportion of 135 to 14,, it is natu- 

 ral to conclude that the muscular fibres which are to stretch the 

 one, must greatly exceed in strength those capable of producing 

 the same degree of tension in the other. 



From this statement, the muscular structure in the human 

 membrana tympani will necessarily be so much less distinct 

 than in the elephant, as scarcely to be visible to the naked eye, 

 and will easily be overlooked by the most attentive observer, 

 who is not directed by some previous information to examine 



