Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: A new theory of hearing / by C. Herbert Hurst. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.
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![J A NEW THEORY OF HEARING. By C. Herbert Hurst, Ph.D, With Plate XX. [Read December 14th, 1894.] Introduction. Kohlrausch’s experiments described in Wiedemann’s Annalen (Vol. X.), amongst others, show that two air- waves separated by a suitable interval of time suffice for the production of a distinct tone-sensation, the pitch being determinable by the ear within the limits of error expressed by the ratio 24:25. Increase of the absolute number of vibrations with the same time-intervals narrows the limits of error in determining the pitch by the ear, till the absolute number reaches 16, beyond w'hich point a further increase does not appreciably facilitate the determination. These results, and especially the first one, disprove, not only all existing theories of hearing based on assump- tions as to “ resonance ” or response of sense-hairs, fibres of basilar membrane, or any parts of the organ “ tuned ” to the same pitch as the sound, but equally disproves all new resonance-theories of hearing w'hich may ever be propounded in the future. Limits of space forbid me here to repeat a description of the ear and especially of the cochlea. The description given by Professor Schiifer in Quain’s Anatomy (10th edition) is accessible to all, and I have taken that descrip- tion as correct except in that I have considered both edges of the tectorial membrane to be attached, the outer edge being, not free, but attached to the upper surface of the cells of Hensen. The measurements given (op. cit., vol.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b22471480_0005.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
