Hence its sacred character, and the sympathy which it seldom fails to create. Whenever we behold a tear, let our kindliest sympathies awake-let it have a sacred claim upon all that we can do to succour and comfort under affliction. What rivers of tears have flown, excited by the cruel and perverse ways of man! War has spread its carnage and desolation; and the eyes of widows and orphans have been suffused with tears. Intemperance has blighted the homes of millions, and weeping and wailing have been incessant. A thousand other evils which we may conquer have given birth to tears enough to constitute a flood-a great tide of grief. Suppose we prize this little philosophy; and each one determine never to excite a tear in another-how pleasantly will fare mankind!

And let all our efforts be devoted to the substitution of smiles for tears."*

The eyelids deserve attention. These are a thin membrane which drop down and are lifted up almost every moment, in the act of winking. They defend the eye; wipe it; and close it in sleep. "One of their uses is to regulate the strong light of the sun when too powerful. If the eyelids were cut off, we should most probably soon become blind. Those people who are in the habit of allowing the full blaze of a lamp, or a bright fire, to shine for a long time in their eyes, run a great risk of doing injury to their sight.' Birds and most reptiles have two eyelids. In fishes, the lids are wanting, or immoveable. When the eyelids are closed, the skin is quite smooth; but when they are open, it forms itself into folds and wrinkles, more particularly in elderly persons. There are two exquisitely fine muscles by which the eyelids are enabled to open and shut. Paley speaks of a certain gentleman, who, though as to the rest of his body, was in good health, yet only wanted the use of these two muscles: by this deficiency he had almost lost his sight, being forced, as long as the defect lasted, to raise up his eyelids, whenever he wished to see, with his own hands! We are here reminded of the well known lines of Watts,—

"Our life contains a thousand springs,

And dies if one be gone;

Strange, that a harp of thousand strings
Should keep in tune so long!"

The eyelashes, while they add to the beauty of the eye, prevent superfluous light, floating particles of dust, insects, &c., from

*"Family Friend," vol. 1, p. 38.

getting into it. At the roots of the hairs of the eyelashes there are glands which produce a gluey substance. In disease the eyelids sometimes become glued to each other.

The eyebrows are peculiar to the human species. They are intended both for ornament and utility. This beautiful arch of hair affords a shelter to the eyes, like a thatched penthouse preventing the sweat and moisture of the forehead from running down into them. They also assist in giving expression to the passions of the mind. They are lifted up when surprise is felt, or complacency expressed;-contracted and knitted into an awful frown to denote anger and indignation.

The eyes, then, are the organs of sight; and “ sight is the sense by which light is perceived, and by means of which, the outlines, dimensions, relative position, colour, and brilliancy of objects are discerned. Some of these properties may be also ascertained, though in a less perfect manner, by the sense of touch. We may obtain an idea of the size and shape of an object, by handling it; but the properties that have a relation to light, such as colour and brilliancy, and also the form and size of bodies that are beyond our reach, can be recognized by sight only."* How wisely and how beautifully are the eyes adapted for the purpose of sight! They are so constructed as to allow us to see things near, or at a distance; to confine ourselves to the inspection of one object, or to take in at once a larger sphere of vision. Of all the senses, that of sight is in most frequent and continual exercise. It fills the mind with the greatest variety of ideas, which it gathers not only from the objects of nature and of art, but from the writings of the wise and good of all ages. The eye, as Dr. Young says,

"Takes in, at once, the landscape of the world
At a small inlet which a grain might close,
And half creates the wondrous world we see.
But for the magic organ's powerful charm,
Earth were a rude, uncolour'd chaos still."

It has been well observed that "the examination of the eye is a cure for atheism." Who does not see and admire the wisdom, and skill, and goodness of the Creator, in its formation, and in its perfect adaptation to its purpose? What care has been taken to guard this delicate and invaluable organ from injury! "Observe its situation-placed in a deep bony

* Agassiz' and Gould's "Comparative Physiology," p. 58.

socket at once adorned and protected by its eyebrows, eyelashes, and eyelids! Fixed in front of the head, it commands an extensive range over the whole face of created things. It equally surveys the boundless profusion of the earth, and the spacious magnificence of the heavens; and, comprehending all things, it, as has been elegantly expressed,

'Looks up through nature unto nature's God.'"*

We now come to

II. THE EAR, which is the organ of Hearing.

The Ear, like the eye, consists of two parts, the external and the internal. The external human ear, called by anatomists, the CONCHA, (fig. c,) from the shell-fish named the muscle, which, in form, it resembles, is, in its natural shape, and when well formed, one of the most ornamental, as well as useful parts of the bodily frame. It is not elongated, like that of many other animals, especially of one I need not name; nor flapping down like that of others; but sits open and close to the side of the head. It is of a cartilaginous or gristly substance, and covered with a delicate skin. It is well adapted to collect and receive sounds, being like a funnel, and having various windings and channels in it to transmit those sounds into the internal ear. It is attached by ligaments and muscles to what is called the temporal bone of the head. If the ear were cut off, it would not only greatly disfigure the head, but

*"House I Live in," p. 127.

G

the sense of hearing would be impaired, and the internal part of the ear more exposed to injury. Man, at least in his civilized state, does not move his ears,-pointing them forward, pricking them upward, or turning them backward, like the horse, the dog, the cat, the hare, and other animals. Persons whose hearing is deficient employ an artificial concha, or trumpet, by which they collect vibrations of sound from a more extended surface.

The internal part of the ear consists of numerous circular and winding passages, cavities, labyrinths, bones, and nerves, which I will endeavour to describe.

The first passage into the ear is called the auditory canal, (fig. m), or passage of the ear. It is of an oval shape, with a slight curve, and a little more than an inch in length. It is about the size of a goose-quill; and is lined with a fine sensitive membrane. At its entrance there are usually a few small fine hairs growing. These prevent dust and flies from entering in, as well as tend to moderate sound. Then there is a substance called CERUMEN, or wax, originally fluid, but by exposure to the air becomes of a consistency like paste, of a deep yellow colour, and of a very bitter taste. This also is of the same use as that of the hairs-serving to entangle any insects that might otherwise get into the ear; but indeed this seldom happens, as its bitterness would prevent them. There is an insect called the ear-wig, a name given from the notion that these animals creep into the ear, and cause injury; but such cases are very rare. Sometimes the wax, being produced in too great quantities, fills up the passage, and causes deafness.

At the further end of the first passage of the ear lies a thin membrane called the TYMPANUM (fig. t d), the Latin word for a drum, which it resembles. It is about half an inch in width, stretched upon a bony ridge, almost circular, like the pelt of a drum on a drum-head. This is commonly called "the drum of the ear." It is almost transparent, and sufficiently lax to tremble with every breath of air. Its position is nearly horizontal, sloping at the end of the passage, which appears to be the best position for receiving sounds. This drum, by its vibrations, occasioned by sound striking on it, as you produce tremulous motions by striking with a stick or a stone a sheet of water, or the pelt of a common drum,-conveys, through the medium of the nerves, the sensations of sound to the brain. Connected with the tympanum are four small bones (fig. b),— the smallest, the most curious, and the hardest bones in the body

almost as hard as ivory. They are arranged in the following order-there is "first, a hammer-shaped instrument, called the MALLEUS, or mallet, whose handle is attached to the tympanum. The head of this hammer rests upon an anvil, the INCUS; and the anvil in turn is secured, through the medium of a small bone, called the Os ORBICULARE, (or round bone,) to a peculiar instrument shaped like a stirrup, and called the STAPES, . . . and as the base of the latter is affixed to an internal membrane called the FENESTRA, or window, this ivory apparatus, comprehending the four implements we have mentioned, appears to be strung right across the cavern of the ear, and so forms a solid chain of communication between the external tunnel and the internal cavity, which lies beyond. . . . This interior cavity, which is very appropriately designated the LABYRINTH, from its intricate construction, contains three portions, namely, the VESTIBULE, (fig. v), and the three semi-circular canals, and the COCHLEA,-the latter a very remarkable spiral organ winding round a central pillar, and bearing no inapt resemblance to the shell of a garden snail. It is in this curious cavern that the AUDITORY NERVE (fig. n,) gives off numerous fine filaments [or threads,] and conveys the various sounds as they arrive to the brain, and lays its message before the mind.”*

I find it exceedingly difficult to understand and to explain exactly and clearly the structure and functions of the ear; for of all the complicated machinery which is contained in the human body, none is more apparently intricate, and more difficult to comprehend, than the various parts of this acoustic organ. But He who "planted the ear,"-who made the ear for sound, -contrived all parts of it for some office; and we must believe that every part of it is necessary to the sense of hearing.

Behind the cavity or hollow of the tympanum, there is a passage which leads from the ear to the back part of the mouth. It is called the EUSTACHIAN TUBE, (fig. e), from Eustachius, the name of its discoverer. It is about an inch and a half in length. In its structure it is something like a trumpet, narrow towards the ear, and of greater width towards the mouth. The design of this tube is most probably the same as the hole in the common drum, to allow the air to escape from behind, and thus promote the vibration of the membrane of the tympanum; for it is found that if such a hole is not made in a drum,

* Article in British Quarterly Review, on "the Philosophy of the Senses," April, 1854.