Flop Ear

“ Where the loss of substance is not too great and along the helix of the ear, a flap can be taken from the back of the ear, leaving it attached at its cicatrized union with the primary wound, and sliding this flap upward or outward until the defect of the helix is overcorrected to allow for contraction and suturing the flap in its new position. ”

“ Never should a school-master, or any one else, be allowed, on any pretense whatever, to strike a boy upon his head. Boxing of the ears has sometimes caused laceration of the drum of the ear, and consequent partial deafness for life. Boxing of the ears injures the brain, and therefore the intellect. ”

“ The crashing noise, combined with the air current, strikes one so stinging a blow when the first “whip” comes, that he feels as though he had been boxed by the hand of an unscen giant, and, unless the ears are protected by special ear mufflers, total deafness will result. ”

“ A, The fracture the roof of the external auditory meatus. B, Comminution of the tegmen tympani, the fracture involving the groove for the posterior branch of the middle meningeal artery.
(b) Hæmorrhage from the ear and mouth. The great majority of middle fossa fractures involve the external auditory meatus, passing inwards across the roof and floor of the middle ear towards the body of the sphenoid. Examination will show that the fracture passes inwards towards the junction of the inner and anterior walls of the middle ear, that is to say, towards the tympanic orifice of the Eustachian tube. ”

“ In Northern Italy, after someone has received a vigorous [11] scolding, I have heard the popular expression used: 'He caught it hot enough to make his ears turn red.’ In the middle of the auricle of the rabbit’s ear there is an artery, running from the base to the summit, which ramifies and winds in such a manner as to form two veins on the edge of the auricle. In 1854, Moritz Schiff observed that this artery showed alternate movements of contraction and expansion, not corresponding to the systole and diastole of the heart. ”

“ If in the frog the disk back of the eye be wounded deep enough to affect the nerve of hearing, the creature falls upon one side, entirely deprived of its power of balancing itself. Perfectly similar phenomena are seen not only in the mammals operated upon by the physiologist, but also in human beings, in whom wounds of the nerve of hearing, as well as ruptures of blood-vessels in the inner ear, produce a peculiar vertigo, with staggering and loss of power which have been mistaken for apoplexy. ”

“ After many hours of profound meditation on this subject I have come to the conclusion that this slight folding of the ear’s margin is the beginning of a new phase of human evolution. In course of time—this cannot be disproved—the fold of the margin will become larger and larger, until finally the shells of the ear will have been transformed into mobile lids for shutting out at will disagreeable noises, even as the eyelids have been developed to shut out glaring light. ”

“ Some wear breech cloths, and not a few are bare to the waist. In the early morning, when the air is still sharp, many of these people, clad in red flannel blankets, go stalking along with their legs uncovered to the thighs. I have already spoken of the ear plugs. Some have the holes in the lobes of their ears so stretched that I can put my fist through them. The loops are so long that when a man takes out his ear plug he hangs the loop of skin over the top of his ear to prevent its catching on something and tearing. ”

“ Every cold in the head tends to mechanically involve the ears, and, while recovery may seem complete, there is likely to be some unrelieved trouble which insidiously but steadily increases—first one ear, and then the other, shows signs of defective hearing. ”

“ I will tell you even more: these hairs of down were from four to five millimetres long, by from three to five hundredths of a millimetre in diameter; this is twice the size of the pretty down which grows on a feminine ear; from which I conclude that your piece of ear belongs to a man.
"Against the curved edge of the cartilage, I found delicate striated bunches of the muscle of the helix, and so perfectly intact that one would have said there was nothing to prevent their contracting. ”

“ When the ear receives any simple sound, it is struck by a single pulse of the air, which makes the eardrum and the other membranous parts vibrate according to the nature and species of the stroke. If the stroke be strong, the organ of hearing suffers a considerable degree of tension. If the stroke be repeated pretty soon after, the repetition causes an expectation of another stroke. And it must be observed, that expectation itself causes a tension. ”

“ When the ancestors of these apes and men began to assume the erect posture, they also began to turn their heads, instead of their ears, in the direction of sound. As the erect posture was improved, the turning head answered with increasing loyalty the call of the sound waves, and after innumerable ages of comparative rest and disuse, the ear muscles dwindled into their present impotence. Here, again, evolution alone explains the facts. ”

“ The habit of breathing through the nose prevents snoring. Therefore practice keeping your mouth shut and breathing through your nose.
Ears
A Scout must be able to hear well. The ears are very delicate, and once damaged are apt to become incurably deaf. No sharp or hard instrument should be used in cleaning the ear. The drum of the ear is a very delicate, tightly stretched skin which is easily damaged. Very many children have had the drums of their ears permanently injured by getting a box on the ear. ”

“ Of much graver importance, of course, is the internal inflammation of the ear, formerly complicated at times with an acute earache, with which he has now been afflicted for a number of years. Just what the affection is no one has yet been able to determine. It grows worse in cold and wet weather, and that is about all that is known of it. ”

“ If a person on blowing the nose violently, feel a swelling in the ear, from the membrane of the tympanum being forced outwards, the tube is open; and though the tube be closed, if the beating of a watch placed between the teeth, or pressed against the side of the head, cannot be heard, the operation cannot relieve, as the sensibility of the auditory nerve must have been destroyed. In a closed Eustachian tube, there is no noise in the head, like that accompanying nervous deafness. ”

“ A third view is that the filaments from the hair cells, rather than the basilar membrane, respond to the vibrations and in turn stimulate the terminations of the nerve fibers.
Fig. 155—Diagram showing how wax may plug the auditory canal and cause deafness. Hygiene of the Ear.—The ear, being a delicate organ, is frequently injured by careless or rough treatment. The removal of the ear wax by the insertion of pointed instruments has been found to interfere with the natural method of discharge and to irritate the membrane. It should never be practiced. ”

“ It is thought that different cells respond to tones of different pitch, but exactly how this is accomplished is not known.
Deafness may result from failure of the sensitive inner ear to respond, or from poor transmission of vibrations across the middle ear by the chain of bones, or by interference with the freedom of action of the eardrum, or by preventing the air waves from striking upon the drum. Injury to the inner ear is rare, because of its secure position within the bone. ”

“ The flaps had kept the wind and dust from the inside of my ears. Now that they were gone my head was stuffed up all the time. The cold weather made me worse, and sometimes I had such trouble to get my breath that it seemed as if I would choke. ”

“ It is kept gently on the stretch by two small muscles, one of which draws it tighter, and the other loosens it, by acting upon a chain of small bones. We shall not undertake to describe the curious and complicated anatomy of the inner ear—the drum, containing air, the curious chain-work of minute vibrating bones, the labyrinth filled with water containing little crystalline particles and fine elastic bristles, and where the delicate fibres of the auditory nerve commence. ”

“ Care of the Ear. Most catarrhal troubles are accompanied by an oversupply of mucus which frequently clogs up the Eustachian tube and produces deafness. For the same reason, colds and sore throat sometimes induce temporary deafness.
The wax of the ear is essential for flexibility of the ear drum; if an extra amount accumulates, it can be got rid of by bathing the ear in hot water, since the heat will melt the wax. The wax should never be picked out with pin or sharp object except by a physician, lest injury be done to the tympanic membrane.
279. The Phonograph. ”

“ When a man stands quite erect, with the head well thrown back, the ear passages are almost directly over the fulcrum. It will be convenient to call that part of the head which is behind the ear passages the post-fulcral, and the part which is in front the pre-fulcral. Now the face is attached to the pre-fulcral part of the lever and represents the weight or load to be moved, while the muscles of the neck, which represent the power, are yoked to the post-fulcral end of the lever. The hinder part of the head serves as a crank-pin for seven pairs of neck muscles, but in Fig. ”

“ If there is more motion of one ear than the other, if the head is jerked to the one side, if there is a measure of deafness in the one ear (to be ascertained rather in the intervals between attacks) , if there is disease of the pharynx, the Eustachian tube or pouch, or swelling about the root of the ear, if there is wax, scurf, or acarus in the ear, if the animal rubs it frequently, aural vertigo may be suspected. ”

“ A clock strikes, the ear informs him that it is the hour of an appointment; the nerves stimulate the muscles again, and he is hastened onward. He does not know the residence of his friend, but his tongue asks for him, and his ear makes known the reply. He reaches the spot—sits—rests. The action of the muscles is stayed; the nerves are for a time at rest. The blood which had flown freely to feed the muscles while they were working, [Pg 257] goes more steadily through the arteries and veins, and the lungs, which had been purifying the blood in its course, partake of the temporary rest. ”

“ The apparent movement of objects in vertigo, or giddiness, is probably due to the loss, through a physical cause, of the impressions made by the pressure of the fluid contents of the ear on the auditory fibres, by which the sense of equilibrium and of rotation is usually received. ”

“ Put one so close to your right ear that it will snap the drum merely from the concussion of the air. We will cut your pockets off one after the other, and touch neither your heart, your lights, or your liver. I myself can score a pathway through those golden curls on top of your very handsome head and never touch the scalp. ”

“ Many cases, indeed, have occurred of injury to the ear, producing permanent deafness, from descents in diving bells, undertaken by persons ignorant of the way in which the ear is made; though the simple precaution of frequent swallowing suffices to ward off all mischief. For, if the Eustachian tube is thus opened, again and again, as the pressure of the outside air increases, the same compressed air that exists outside passes also into the inside of the drum, and the membrane is equally pressed upon from both sides by the air, and so is free from strain. ”

“ A flickering light irritates the eye; a flickering sound or noise irritates the ear; both are painful because of the sudden and abrupt changes in effect which they cause, the former on the eye, the latter on the ear. ”

“ The pain of acute middle-ear inflammation is deep-seated, intermittent in character, and worse at night, and is aggravated by blowing the nose, coughing, and sneezing—acts which increase middle-ear tension by forcing air along the Eustachian tube. Mastoid pain and tenderness are indicative of inflammation in the antrum or cells, and when these symptoms supervene in the course of a chronic middle-ear suppuration, they should always be regarded as of grave import. ”

“ Those veins, however, which run over the interior surface of the ear, and especially towards its outer edge, may be opened without much difficulty: if the ear is turned back on to the poll, one or more of them may easily be made sufficiently prominent to admit of its being punctured by pressing the fingers on the base of the ear near to the conch; when the necessary quantity of blood has been obtained, the finger may be raised and it will cease to flow. ”

“ A limited number of those books have been secured for readers of Cassell’s Saturday Journal, and will be sent free by post by the publisher, M. Franckel.
Application to the London address given brought a pamphlet of sixteen pages, from which a few extracts are here given: [Pg 139]
For years it has been known to Medical Men that the minute vessels or channels of the lymphatic system underlying the skin, covering the bone behind the ear, were intimately connected with those supplying vital nourishment to the middle and internal ear, where we find the common seat of deafness and head noises. ”

“ The disorder that leads to vertigo implies a retention of a measure of the normal function of the internal ear, and therefore of hearing, whereas the disease that has caused complete destruction of the internal ear and consequent loss of hearing has equally destroyed the function of the labyrinth in maintaining a sense of balance, and has obviated the aural sensations of equilibrium and loss of balance. ”