Book IV. knowledged to be admirably Artificial, it being fo nicely prepared, and adjufted to the peculiar Occafions of each refpective Animal. In Man (2), it is of a Form proper for the erect 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 easier 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 (3), in others

(2) I cannot but admire that our most éminent modern Anatomifts fhould not agree, whether there be any Muscles in the qutward 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 Anatomists: But Dr. Schelhammer exprefly denies there are any, and faith, Seduxit autem reliquos Brutorum Anatome, in quorum plerifque tales Mufculi plures inveniuntur; putarunt autem fortaffis ignominio fum Homini, fi non & his inftructus effet, & minus inde perfectum animal fore. Schel. de Auditu. p. 1. c. 1. §. 7. But Valfalva who wrote very lately, and is very accurate in his Survey of the Ear, faith, Mufculi auriculæ pofteriores quandoque quatuor, quandoque duo ; fed ut plurimum tres adnotantur; quando folùm duo fe manifeftant, tunc unus ex illis duplicato tendine verfus Concham deferri folet. Horum mufculorum in numero varietatem non folum in diverfis ; verum etiam in eodem fubje&to quandoque vidi. -Ex quibus differentiis fuborte funt Auctorum difcrepantia in harum Mufculorum numero, & pofitu:quod non eveniffet, fi pluries in diverfis Corporibus iidem Mufculi quafiti effent. Ant. Mar. Valfalva de Aur. Human. e. 1. §. 6. But Dr. Drake thinks fome of Valfalva's Mufcles the product of Fancy. Mr. Cooper makes them to be three, one Attollent, and two Retrahent Mufcles. See Anat. Tab. 12.

(3) Inter cætera [animalia aurita] maximè admirabilis est auris Leporina fabrica, quod cùm tumidiffimum animal fit, & prorfus inerme, natura id tum auditu atutiffimo, tanquam hoftium exploratore ad perfentienda pericula, tum pedibus ceu armis ad currendum aptis muniffe videtur. A Kircher's Phonurg. 1. 1. §. 7. Technaf. 2.

covered,

covered, to keep out noxious Bodies. In the Subterraneous 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 (4), their Ears fhort, lodged deep, and backward in their Head, and paffing

"

(4) Moles have no protuberant Ear, but only a round Hole between the Neck and Shoulder; which Situation of it, together with the thick short Fur that covers it, is a fufficient Defensative 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 small 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 use the old appellation) or the Membrana Tympani (as others call it) afteth 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 fhorter to the fide of the Drum or Os Petrofum; the back part of it refembles the Head and Stalk of a small Mushroom, fuch as are pickled. On the back of the Malleus lies the next fmall Bone, which may be called the Incus, long, and without any Process, having fomewhat the Form of the fhort Scoop wherewith WaterMen 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 Bafe. One of these Forks is at one Feneftra, or Foramen, the other at another; in which Fenestral apprehend the Forks are tacked to the Auditory Nerve. These 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 Canalis lie at a diftance from the Drum, and are not lodged (as in other Animals) in a ftrong thick Body of Bone, but are thruft out with

Book IV. paffing to the under part thereof, and all fufficient, ly 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 commodioufly 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 obfervable, 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 thould run over the feveral Genera of Animals, we might find a notable Profpect of the Handy-work of God (5), even in this fo inconfiderable Part of Animals. But I fhall only carry my Survey to that

in the Skull, making an Antrum, with an handsome Arch leading into it, into which a part of the Brain enters.

One Leg of the Malleus being faftened 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 alfo.

I hope the Reader will excufe me for being fo particular in this Organ only of the Mole, a defpifed 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 en- 1 larged 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 difcoverable without great Patience and Application; and partly because by comparing these Obfervations with Book VII. Chap. 2. Note 4. we may judge how the Senfe of Hearing is performed.

(5) Among many Varieties, both in the inner, and outer Ear, those 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,

that of Man. And here the firft 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 Confusion thereof, by any difagreeable Repercuffions, we may take notice of a very curious Provision in thofe little Protuberances, called the Tragus, and Antitragus of the outward Ear, of a commodious Form and Texture (6), 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 caufeth a confufion in the Hearing, with a certain Murmur, or Swooing like the fall of Waters (7).

below, for the better Reception of the leaft 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 ftraight 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 pursued, it is supplied with a bony Tube; which as a natural Otocoustick, is fo directed backward, as to receive the Smalleft, and most diftant Sound that comes behind her. Crew's Cofmolog. Sacr. lib. 1. c. 5. §. 6.

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

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

Those 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 dir. 'Tis likewife obferved, that those whofe Ears jut out, hear better than ftat-eared Perfons. Monfieur Dionis's Anat. Demonftr. 8.

Another wife Provifion of the Creator is in the Subftance of the outward Ear, which is Cartilaginous, the fitteft for this Place. For (as an ingenious Anatomift (8) obferves) "if it had been Bone, it "would have been troublefome, and might by ma

ny Accidents have been broken off; If Flesh, it "would have been fubject to Contufion". But indeed a worfer Confequence than this would have enfued fuch a foftnefs as that of Flefh, and that is, it would neither have remained expanded, neither would it fo kindly receive and circulate the Sounds, but abforb, retard, or blunt their Progrefs into the inward Organ. But being hard, and curiously finooth and tortuous, Sounds find an eafie Paffage, with a regular Volutation and Refraction, as in a well-built Arch, Grotto, or Mufical Inftrument, which magnify and meliorate Sounds and fome of which convey even a Whifper to a large Diftance (9). But from the outward, let us carry our Survey,

2. To

Gibf. Ibid.

It would naufeate the Reader to reckon up the places famed for the Conveyance of Whifperers, fuch as the Prifon of Dionyfius at Syracufe, which is faid to encreafe a Whisper to a Noffe; the clapping ones Hands to the Sound of a Cannon, &c. nor the Aquaducts of Claudius, which carry a Voice fixteen Miles, and many others both Ancient and Modern. If the Reader hath a mind to be entertained in this way, he may find enough in Kircher's Phonurgia. But it may not be irkfome to mention one or two of our own, in England. Among which, one of the moft famed is the Whispering-place in Gloucester Cathedral, which is no other than a Gallery above the Eaft-end of the Choir, leading from one fide thereof to the other. It confifteth, (if I miftake not) of five Angles, and fix Sides, the middle-most of which is a naked, uncovered Window, looking into a Chappel behind it. I guefs the two Whisperers ftand at about twentyfive Yards Diftance from one another. But the Dome of St. Paul's, London, is a more confiderable Whispering-place; where

the