knack in looking at different objects. Sailors are superior to landsmen in descrying objects at sea; and the astronomer detects phenomena in the heavens which elude the sight of ordinary observers. The common affairs of life are so constantly calling into action the faculties of the eye, that its quickness is scarcely confined to any class; but the faculties of the ear are comparatively unemployed, and left in a state of idleness.

The formation of the musical ear depends on early impressions. Infants who are placed within the constant hearing of musical sounds, soon learn to appreciate them, and nurses have the merit of giving the first lessons in melody; for we learn from the lives of eminent composers, that their early fondness for the art may be traced to the ditties of the nursery.

Children brought up in musical families, often entertained by the sound of musical instruments, so soon acquire a musical sense as, in some instances, to be regarded as prodigies. Mozart began to compose at the age of four; and, in a paper read before the Royal Society by Doctor Burney, it is affirmed that Crotch played the air of 'Let ambition fire thy Mind' when only two years old.

It is extraordinary what an effort nature makes upon the loss of sight to compensate the deficiency by sharpening the sense of hearing and touch: as in the case of Huber, the great naturalist, who has made so many discoveries in the minutiae of insects;

and also Mr. Goff, of Kendal, an eminent botanist, who can tell the name or species of any plant or flower by the touch.*

In the improvement, or rather the actual formation of an ear, we may mention Mr. William Coltman, of Leicester, who, blind from his birth, had so dull an ear when six years old, that he could not distinguish the tone of a violin from that of a flute; at this period he was presented with a piano-forte, which at first amused him only by its curious structure: at length, his ear was caught by the sounds, and he soon began to lay aside his other amusements, and show an increasing fondness for music. The rapidity with which his ear was formed and perfected is certainly without a parallel. On first hearing the Seventh Symphony of Haydn performed by a full orchestra, he instantly comprehended the different modulations in that piece, and played them on the piano-forte with the greatest accuracy. In things of common life we may mention that he ascertains his situation in the street, and his near approach to objects, by the stroke of his stick. To distinguish the firm step of a man from the light step of a woman is what many can do, but he recognises his friends by their walk; and can tell the age, as well as the disposition of strangers, by the tone of voice.

* Dogs when blindfolded have the power of finding their way by the sense of smell: every lane, field, or town, has its particular smell.-Sir Humphry Davy.

Dr. Darwin informs us, in his Zoonomia, that the late Justice Fielding walked for the first time into his room, when he once visited him, and after speaking a few words, said, 'This room is twentytwo feet long, eighteen wide, and twelve high,' all of which he guessed by the ear.

Blind people have a peculiar method of presenting the ear, and in some cases acquire the power of moving it when much interested.* The incessant use they make of it gives them an indescribable quickness they judge of every thing by sound; a soft sonorous voice, with them, is the symbol of beauty; and so nice a discerner is a blind person of the accents of speech, that through the voice he fancies he can see the soul. From this idea they form notions of character that often lead them into erroneous conclusions.

By practice, the discriminating powers of the ear may be carried to the highest degree of perfection. The success of thieves and gamblers depends upon its quickness. Since the money has been recoined, the regularity with which each piece is struck gives them a uniformity of sound that is very remarkable;

* If you notice a string of horses upon travel, you will find that the first horse points his ear forward, and the last behind him, keeping watch; but the intermediate ones, who seem not to be called upon to do this duty, appear careless and perfectly at their ease.-Dr. Darwin's Zoonomia.

† Sir John Fielding possessed a great faculty of this sort; and he could recollect every thief that had been brought before him by the tone and accent of his voice for more than forty years.

the half-crowns having the sound of

Bankers quickly discover the least deviation from the proper tone, by which they readily detect the counterfeits. In the tossing up of money, gamblers can perceive a difference in the sound, whether it falls upon one side or the other. Pye-men are furnished with a covering to their baskets made of a smooth plate of metal, by which they take in the unwary, as they readily tell which side is uppermost by the sound upon the plate, though concealed by the hand.

*

The atmosphere is the grand medium by which sound is conveyed, though recent discoveries prove that other bodies conduct it with greater expedition, as in the instance of vibrating a tuning-fork, to the stem of which is attached a packthread string; on the other end being wrapt round the little finger, and placed in the chamber of the ear, the sound will be audibly conveyed to the distance of two hundred yards, though not perceptible to any bystander. Miners, in boring for coal, can tell by the sound what substance they are penetrating; and a recent discovery is that of applying a listening-tube to the breast to detect the motions of the heart. The quickness which some persons possess in distinguishing the smaller sounds, is very re

* Some very extraordinary telegraphic inventions are about to be exhibited, depending upon this principle.

markable. A friend of the writer has declared he could readily perceive the motion of a flea, when on his nightcap, by the sound emitted by the machinery of his leaping powers. However extraordinary this may appear, we find a similar statement is given in the ingenious work upon insects, by Kirby and Spence, who say, 'I know of no other 'insect, the tread of which is accompanied by sound, except indeed the flea, whose steps a lady assured 'me she always hears when it passes over her night'cap, and that it clacks as if it was walking in 'pattens!' If we can suppose the ear to be alive to such delicate vibrations, certainly there is nothing in the way of sound too difficult for it to achieve.*

* Cats and dogs can hear the movements of their prey at incredible distances, and that even in the midst of noise, which we should have thought would have overpowered such effects. Rabbits, when alarmed, forcibly strike the earth with their feet, by the vibration of which, they communicate their apprehensions to burrows very remote. As an instance of the discriminating power of the ear of the elephant, we may mention a circumstance that occurred in the memorable conflict of shooting the maddened elephant at Exeter 'Change. 'After the soldiers had discharged thirty balls, he stooped, and delibe'rately sunk on his haunches. Mr. Herring, conceiving that a shot 'had struck him in a vital part, cried out—" He's down, boys! he's 'down!" and so he was only for a moment; he leapt up with re'newed vigor, and at least eighty balls were successively discharged at 'him from different positions before he fell a second time. Previous 'to this, he had nearly brought down the building of Exeter 'Change 'by his furious lunges, flying round his den with the speed of a race'horse. In the midst of the crash of timber, and the hallooing of the 'assailants, he recognised the voice of his keeper in his usual cry, ""Chunee, bite-Chunee, bite," which was his command to kneel;

' and the noble beast actually knelt, and received a volley of balls that ' terminated his suffering.'