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LETTERS FROM 
fining his prisoners in it he was enabled to 
overhear their conversation, and to detect 
conspiracies against his fife. It does not 
appeal* to bear the smallest resemblance to 
any part of the human ear; therefore, if it 
were really constructed for the above-men¬ 
tioned purpose, (and it is difficult to imagine 
any other to which it could have been ap¬ 
plied,) it is much more probable that it re¬ 
ceived its name because the tyrant used it 
as an artificial ear, or an apparatus for hear¬ 
ing sounds very distinctly. 
It will be difficult to form an idea of this 
curious excavation from a description only. 
It is a cavern in the form of a pointed 
arch, the sides of which are of unequal cur¬ 
vature, so that a perpendicular from the apex 
would not fall in the middle of the base line 
of the arch. The height at the entrance, 
which is in the face of a perpendicular cliff, 
