Treatise on the ear : including its anatomy, physiology and pathology : for which the author obtained a gold medal in the University of Edinburgh / by Joseph Williams.
- Date:
- 1840
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Treatise on the ear : including its anatomy, physiology and pathology : for which the author obtained a gold medal in the University of Edinburgh / by Joseph Williams. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.
261/306 (page 233)
![Itard mentions the case of a Spaniard who, at the termi- nation of an acute illness, became deaf by the obstruction of the Eustachian tube ; and who heard the tones of a guitar with much pleasure, when its handle was placed in the mouth. So also the piano has been played and heard, by forming a connexion between it and the teeth. Persons entirely deaf are sensible of the thrill or vibration produced by a powerful organ; which im- pression is doubtless received through the nerves of touch, bearing an analogy to the way in which insects, and perhaps even fishes, become sensible of external vibratory undulations. It has been before mentioned, that the nerves supplying the ears of some fishes, are not special nerves of hearing, but branches of the fifth. [See p. 56.] All persons must be aware of the pecu- liar external sensation produced by the organ, the vibratory undulations being felt by every part of the body, more especially when in contact with solid substances. I may here perhaps mention, that I think it possible that the defective formation of the internal ear, so frequently observed in cases of congenital deafness, may be the consequence of violent, grating, or pe- culiarly disagreeable sounds, impressing the mother during the early months of gestation; if such were really the case, it would strengthen the opinion pre- viously advanced, that different parts of the labyrinth were intended to appreciate particular sounds. Thus accounting for congenital deafness may at first sight appear very improbable, but will cease to be so, when we consider that different portions of the body are altered in form, and sometimes even are al- together wanting, in consequence of painful impres-](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b2198766x_0261.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
