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XL The Physiology of the Stapes , one of the Bones of the Organ 
of Hearing ; deduced from a comparative View of its Structure , 
and Uses , in different Animals. By Anthony Carlisle, Esq. 
F. R. S. 
Read April 4, 1805. 
Anatomical descriptions of the mechanism of the eye have 
importantly contributed to the advancement of optics, a branch 
of science which has conferred numerous benefits on mankind. 
Whether a more intimate knowledge of the structure of the 
organs of hearing may illustrate the doctrines of acoustics, 
and thus become a source of similar advantages, can only be 
determined by future investigations, and experiments. The 
following is an attempt to exhibit a part of the instrument of 
hearing, taken from several orders of animals, with an inten- 
tion to shew the office it holds, and the relation it bears to 
other parts of the auditory mechanism. The minuteness of 
this research will not require any apology to that learned 
Body, who for a long series of years have witnessed the de- 
pendence of all the systems of natural knowledge on simple 
particulars, well chosen, and applied to the establishment of 
general laws. 
Doubtless the whole organ of hearing is an apparatus to 
collect occurring sounds, and to convey them to the seat of 
that peculiar sensation, regulating their intensity, or facili- 
tating their progress, according to the degree of impetus. In 
these respects the ear resembles the eye. 
