Book IV. 1. It is fituated in the moft convenient Part of the Body, (like as I faid the Eye is) in a Part near the common Sensory in the Brain, to give the more speedy Information; in a Part where it can be beft guarded, and where it is moft free from Annoyances and Harms it self, and where it gives the leaft Annoyance and Hindrance to the Exercises of any other Part; in a Part appropriated to the peculiar Ufe of the principal Senfes, in the most lofty, eminent Part of the Body, where it can perceive the most Objects, and receive the greatest Information: And laftly, in a Part in the Neighbourhood of its Sifter Senfe the Eye, with whom it hath peculiar and admirable Communication by its Nerves, as I intend to fhew in its proper Place. In refpect then of its Situation and Place in the Body, this Senfe is well defigned and contrived, and may fo far be accounted the Work of fome admirable Artist.

But,

2. If we furvey its Fabrick and Parts, it will appear to be an admirable Piece of the Divine Wifdom, Art, and Power. For the Manifeftation of which, let us distinctly furvey the outward and the inward Part of its curious Organ.

1. For the outward Ear: If we obferve its Stru&ture in all Kinds of Animals, it must needs be acknowledged to be admirably Artificial, it being fo

She can hold Conversation whole Days with those that can speak her own Language. I could understand fome of her Words, but could not comprehend a Period, for it feemed to be but a confufed Noife. She knows nothing that is faid to her, unless fhe feeth the Motion of their Mouths that speak to her; fo that in the Night, when it is necessary to speak to her, they must light a Candle. Only one thing appeared the strangest part of the whole Narration: She hath a Sifter, with whom he hath practifed her Language more than with any other: And in the Night, by laying her Hand on her Sifter's Mouth, she can perceive by that what she faith, and fo can difcourfe with her in the Night. Bishop Burnet's Let. 4. p. 248.

115 nicely prepared, and adjufted to the peculiar Occafions of each respective Animal. In Man (b), it is of a Form proper for the ercct Pofture of his Body. In Birds, of a Form proper for Flight; not protuberant, because that would obftruct their Progrefs, but clofe and covered, to afford the eafier Paffage through the Air. In Quadrupeds, its Form is agreeable to the Pofture, and flower Motion of their Bodies; and in these too, various, according to their various Occafions. In fome large, erect, and open, to hear the leaft Approaches of Dangers (c), in others covered, to keep out noxious Bodies. In the Sub

(b) I cannot but admire that our moft eminent modern Anatomifts fhould not agree, whether there be any Muscles in the outward Ear of Man or not. Dr. Keil faith there are two; Dr. Drake the fame Number; and Dr. Gibson makes them to be four. So alfo doth Monfieur Dionis, and fo did the ancient Anatomifts: But Dr. Schelhammer expreffly denies there are any, and faith, Seduxit autem reliquos Brutorum Anatome, in quorum plerifque tales Mufculi plures inveniuntur; putârunt autem fortaffis ignominiofum Homini, fi non & his inftructus effet, & minùs inde perfectum animal fore. Schel. de Auditu. p. I. c. I. §. 7. But Valfalva, who wrote very lately, and is very accurate in his Survey of the Ear, faith, Mufculi auricula pofteriores quandoque quatuor, quandoque duo; fed ut plurimùm ires adnotantur; & quando folùm duo se manifeftant, tunc unus ex illis duplicato tendine versùs Concham de ferri folet. Horum mufculorum in numero varietatem non folùm in diverfis; verùm etiam in eodem fubjecto quandoque vidiEx quibus differentiis fuborta funt Auctorum difcrepantia in horum Mufculorum numero, & pofitu: — quod non eveniffet, fi pluries in diverfis Corporibus iidem Mufculi quafiti essent. Änt. Mar. Valfalva de Aur. Human. c. 1. §. 6. But Dr. Drake thinks fome of Valfalva's Mufcles the Product of Fancy. Mr. Cowper makes them to be three, one Attollent, and two Retrabent Mufcles. See Anat. Tab. 12.

(c) Inter catera [animalia aurita] maximè admirabilis eft auris leporina fabrica, quod cùm timidiffimum animal fit, & prorfus inerme, natura id tum auditu acutiffimo, tanquam hoftium exploratore ad perfentienda pericula, tum pedibus ceu armis ad currendum aptis muniffe videtur. A Kircher's Phonurg. 1. 1. §. 7. Technaf. 2.

terraneous Quadrupeds, who are forced to mine, and dig for their Food and Habitation, as a protuberant Ear, like that of other Quadrupeds, would obftruct their Labours, and be apt to be torn and injured; fo they have the contrary (d), their Ears fhort, lodged deep and backward in their Head, and pafLing

(d) Moles have no portuberant Ear, but only a round Hole between the Neck and Shoulder; which Situation of it, together with the thick, fhort Fur that covers it, is a fufficient Defenfative against external Annoyances. The Meatus Auditorius is long, round and cartilaginous, reaching to the under part of the Skull. Round the infide runs a little Ridge, resembling two Threads of a Skrew; at the Bottom whereof is a pretty Inlet, leading to the Drum, made, on one fide with the aforesaid cochleous Ridge, and on the other, with a fmall Cartilage. I obferved there was Cerumen in the Meatus.

As to the inner Ear, it is fomewhat fingular, and different from that of the other Quadrupeds, and much more from Birds, although I have met with fome Authors that make it agreeing with that of Birds. There are three fmall Bones only (all hollow) by which the Drum (to ufe the old Appellation) or the Membrana Tympani (as others call it) acteth upon the Auditory Nerve. The firft is the Malleus, which hath two Proceffes nearly of equal Length; the longer of which is braced to the Membrana Tympani, the shorter to the fide of the Drum or Os Petrofum; the back part of it refembles the Head and Stalk of a fmail Mushroom, fuch as are pickled. On the back of the Malleus lies the next small Bone, which may be called the Incus, long, and without any Procefs, having fomewhat the Form of the fhort Scoop wherewith Water-men throw the Water out of their Wherries. To the end of this the third and laft fmall Bone is tacked by a very tender Brace. This little Bone bears the Office of the Stapes, but is only forked without any Base. One of thefe Forks is at one Feneftra, or Foramen, the other at another; in which Feneftra I apprehend the Forks are tacked to the Auditory Nerve. Thefe Feneftra (equivalent to the Feneftra Ovalis, and Rotunda in others) are the Inlets into the Cochlea and Canales Semicirculares, in which the Auditory Nerve lieth. The Semicircular Canales lie at a distance from the Drum, and are not lodged (as in other Animals) in a ftrong, thick Body of Bone, but are thruft out, within the Skull, making

an

fing to the under Part thereof, and all fufficiently fenced and guarded. And as for Infects, Reptiles, and the Inhabitants of the Waters, if they enjoy this Senfe, (as there is great Reafon to think they do,) it may probably be lodged commodiously under the fame Security and Guard, as the Smelling,

or fome other Senfe is.

And moreover, as the Form of this Organ is various in various Animals, fo in each of them its Structure is very curious and observable, being in all admirably contrived to collect the wandering, circumambient Impreffions, and Undulations of Sound, and to convey them to the Sensory within. If I should run over the feveral Genera of Animals, we might find a notable Profpect of the handy-work of God (e), even in this fo inconfiderable Part of Animals. But I fhall only carry my Survey to that

an Antrum, with an handfome Arch leading into it, into which a part of the Brain enters.

One Leg of the Malleus being faftned to the Membrana Tympani, and the Incus to the back of the Malleus, and the top of that to the top of the Stapes, and the Forks or Branches of the Stapes to the Auditory Nerve, I obferved that whenever I moved the Membrane, all the little Bones were at the fame time moved, and confequently the Auditory Nerve thereby affected also.

I hope the Reader will excufe me for being fo particular in this Organ only of the Mole, a despised Creature, but as notable an Example of God's Work, as its Life is different from that of other Quadrupeds; for which Reafon it partly is that I have enlarged on this part differing from that of others, and which no Body that I know of, hath taken much notice of, and which is not discoverable without great Patience and Application; and partly because by comparing these Obfervations with Book VII. Chap. 2. Note (d), we may judge how the Sense of Hearing is performed.

(e) Among many Varieties, both in the inner and outer Ear, thofe which appear in the Paffage into the Rock-Bone, are remarkable. For in an Owl, that perches on a Tree or Beam, and hearkens after the Prey beneath her, it is produced farther out above than it is below, for the better Reception of the leaft

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that of Man. And here the first Thing that offereth it felf to our View, is the Helix, with its tortuous Cavities, made to ftop, and collect the fonorous Undulations, to give them a gentle Circulation and Refraction, and fo convey them to the Concha, or larger and more capacious round Cell at the Entrance of the Ear. And to bridle the Evagation of the Sound, when arrived fo far, but withal not to make a Confufion thereof, by any difagreeable Repercuffions, we may take notice of a very curious Provifion in those little Protuberances, called the Tragus, and Antitragus of the outward Ear, of a commodious Form and Texture (f), and conveniently lodged for this Ufe. The great Convenience and Benefit of this Form and Contrivance of the outward Ear, is fufficiently manifeft by the want thereof, which causeth a Confufion in the Hearing, with a certain Murmur, or Swooing like the Fall of Waters (g).

Sound. But in a Fox, that scouteth underneath the Prey at Rooft; it is for the fame Reason, produced farther out below. In a Pole-Cat, which hearkens ftrait forward, it is produced behind, for the taking of a forward Sound. Whereas in a Hare, which is very quick of Hearing, and thinks of nothing but being purfued, it is fupplied with a bony Tube, which as a natural Otocouftick, is fo directed backward, as to receive the fmallest and moft diftant Sound that comes behind her. Grew's Cofmolog. Sacr. lib. 1. c. 5. §. 6.

(f) The Texture of the Tragus and Antitragus, is fofter than that of the Helix, which ferveth gently to blunt, not forcibly to repel the Sound in the Concha.

(g) Dr. Gibson's Anatomy, Chap. 22. Book III.

Thofe whofe Ears are cut off, have but a confused way of Hearing, and are obliged either to form a Cavity round the Ear with their own Hands, or else to make use of a Horn, and apply the end of it to the inner Cavity of the Ear, in order to receive the agitated Air. 'Tis likewife obferved, that those whofe Ears jut out, hear better than flat-eared Perfons. Monfieur Dionis's Anat. Demonftr. 8.

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