Part 31

But I forgot to tell you that there is a way to reach the inside of the ear without going through the ear-drum.

AMY: Please tell us how.

MOTHER: By going the same way that air takes to go to the lungs; you will find a little door just before you come to the music room, which leads to the ear.

PERCY: But why should there be two passages to get to the inside?

MOTHER: For the very good reason that air is so heavy; if it should press against the ear-drum, it would break it, unless there was something to press just as much against the other side. So some nice, warm air goes up from the throat, and as it is just as heavy as the air outside, it makes the weight alike on both sides.

I once heard of a girl who was asked how air could get inside of the drum of the ear, and she said, “Through the other ear.” Her mates in school all laughed at such a thoughtless answer. You will now know better than to make such a statement if the question were asked you.

PERCY: But I would like to know what else a sound finds in the ear besides hammers, anvils, and stirrups.

MOTHER: I think you can understand what I say better if you look closely at this picture. This is very much larger than the ear inside your own head. You will see that there are tiny tunnels running every way, some shaped like loops, and one of them very much like the inside of a shell which winds round and round.

HELEN: And are all these little tunnels empty?

MOTHER: No; they are filled with clear water. If you had a very strong mi´cro-scope you would see some things in the ear which would fill you with wonder. First of all we find a little bag floating in the water, made of fine skin, that just fits into all the loops and tunnels. What do you suppose is in this tiny bag?

AMY: I’m sure I don’t know. Please tell us.

MOTHER: It is full of water, too, but it takes only a drop to fill it. Though this dainty bag is so small, yet there is room for some little stones in it, which we will call ear-stones. The picture shows the road sound travels, only this is much larger than the ear really is.

PERCY: I should think it would get lost before it finds the end of all these winding passages.

MOTHER: It has no trouble in finding its way, and finding it quickly, too. Suppose we start now from the outside porch again, so you will not forget the road. First, it goes through the ear passage and knocks against the ear-drum. This makes the handle inside strike the drum, and the other end hits the anvil; the anvil makes the stirrup tremble; and as sound passes along, that makes the water with the little ear-stones in it tremble also.

ELMER: But what I want to know is how the sound gets into the brain so the master knows what it has to tell him. I don’t see any use of its going through all those tunnels and staying there.

MOTHER: You may be sure it does not stay there unless there is something wrong with the ear. One of the wires from your telephone system, which you call nerves, passes through a little hole in the skull, and it spreads out on the inside of the tunnels, and all sounds are carried by these nerves into the brain. As soon as one goes in, the master knows what kind of sound it is.

AMY: I don’t see why it should go through so many tunnels.

MOTHER: I suppose He that formed the ear knows why, but I don’t. A very high sound goes through the shell tube. A very loud sound travels through the loops.

HELEN: I suppose sweet sounds please the master of the house most, such as good music.

MOTHER: Yes; he does not often like loud, harsh sounds. Pleasant tones please him so much that he will sometimes sit for hours listening to them. People talk much about the in´stru-ments of music they have made; but they are nothing when compared with the in´stru-ment God made for hearing them.

This shows us that we should be very careful of our ears, that they may not be injured and we lose our hearing. We should never strike a child on the head or ears; for it may make him deaf. I know a young man whose grandfather “boxed his ears” when he was a little child, and from that time he began to lose his hearing. When we think what the world would be to us if we were not able to hear the songs of the birds, the voices of those we love, and all the other sounds which give us pleasure, it should cause us to guard our ears from the slightest injury.

SOME WONDERFUL WINDOWS

MOTHER: I told you some time ago that the body-house has two windows through which the master looks at what is going on around him; for he never goes outside as long as he lives.

HELEN: Oh, I remember! Those are the eyes.

MOTHER: Yes; and you may be sure that the One who made the house did not forget to make it to enjoy the light. The Bible says, “The light of the body is the eye.” Most dwelling-houses have quite a number of windows, but though ours has but two, they are so made and placed in such a way that the master can see in every direction. Of what shape is the eye?

AMY: It is nearly round, like a ball.

MOTHER: Now see how many ways you can look without moving your head.

ELMER: Up and down, to either side, and in a circle.