Destruction of the Membrana Tympani. 437 
spot, which, by the silvery surface of the membrane surrounding 
it, is rendered distinctly perceptible. If there be an aperture, air 
also, upon blowing the nose with violence, will be forced with a 
whistling noise through the ear. The smoke of tobacco may be 
driven from the mouth through the ear ; or water may be in- 
jected from the ear into the throat. * 
The effect produced upon the sense of hearing, by this defective 
state of the membrana tympani, varies according to circumstances. 
If there be a small aperture only, leaving the malleus with its 
natural attachment, no difference in the power of the organ is 
perceptible; the membrane vibrates, and communicates its vibra- 
tions, as before. If the whole of the membrane be destroyed, and 
three out of four of the small bones of the tympanum be re- 
moved, an almost total deafness ensues; but the ear, after a 
time, begins to recover its powers, and, in the end, regains 
them, with that degree of imperfection only, which, in my for- 
mer Paper, I have described in the case of Mr. P - — - — .-f The 
following fact appears to confirm the truth of this statement. 
Mr. Radford, surgeon, of Newington Butts, informs me, that 
in the year 1779, he attended a woman who had an ulcer in the 
throat, by which a portion of the palate was destroyed, and the 
tonsils and Eustachian tube so much injured, that in the attempt 
to swallow, a part of the liquid ran through her ears ; yet, not- 
withstanding these ravages, she neither complained of any de- 
fect in her hearing, nor had the slightest appearance of deafness. 
In cases, however, where the discharge of matter which pro- 
* It was formerly supposed, that there was naturally a communication between the 
external ear and the throat, through the membrana tympani ; an opinion which it is 
now almost unnecessary to say is without foundation, 
f Vide Philosophical Transactions for 1800, page 152. 
