Hissing

“ That cry of the young which is so often described as a hissing sound, begins very soon after they are hatched. At first exceedingly faint it soon grows stronger, and is uttered day and night for two weeks. ”

“ On alighting on these, each of them, anxious for a choice of place, creates always a general disturbance; and often, when quite dark, their hissing is heard in token of this inclination for supremacy. ”

“ All night a fierce northeast snow-storm had been hissing and drifting through the frozen air, pelting angrily at the shuttered and curtained windows of the rich, and shrieking with scornful laughter as it forced its way through the ill-fitting casements and loose doors of the poor, clutching at them with icy fingers as they cowered over their poor fires, and spreading over the garret-beds in which they sought to hide from him a premature shroud of cold white snow. ”

“ Some commonly, however, only utter a loud hissing or a low muttering noise; in other species, on the contrary, the voice is loud and powerful, and somewhat varied, so that when heard from a distance its effect is by no means disagreeable. ”

“ The hushing, hissing, [30] and lisping sounds, and the r sounds, in which the place of articulation is along the middle line of the mouth (medial formation) ; and
2. The l sounds, the narrowing for which is between the side rim or rims of the tongue and the side teeth (lateral formation) .
The r sounds and the l sounds are sometimes called liquids.
29. The hushing sounds.—For the production of the sh sounds the passage is narrowed between the blade (see § 23) of the tongue and the hard palate. A broad current of air is broken against the edge of the teeth. ”

“ It is the last gleam springing from the dying flame; but soon the eyes become fixed and insensible to the action of light, the nose grows pointed and cold, the mouth, wide open, seems to call for the air that fails it, the cavity within it is parched, and the lips, as if withered, cling to the curves of the teeth. The last movements of respiration are spasmodic, and a wheezing, and sometimes a marked gurgling sound, may be heard at some distance, caused by obstruction of the bronchial tubes with a quantity of mucus. The breath is cold, the temperature of the skin lowered. ”

“ Followed a tense pause, during which he tightened his back-muscles under his spines, and tucked himself in, to meet any coming shock, more tightly than ever. Followed the pause a short warning hiss, jerked out almost in fright, it seemed—that cat's hiss that is only a bluff, and meant to imitate a snake—a sudden explosion of snarls, and a thud. ”

“ Any noise causes renewed pallor. A whistle, a cry, a sound of any kind, the bark of a dog, a sunbeam suddenly penetrating into the cage, the shadow of a swiftly passing cloud, the flight of a distant bird, each suffices to produce a rapid loss of colour in the ears, shortly followed by a more vivid flush. ”

“ And somewhat more of encouragement I have also from experience, that I have been able to hear very plainly the beating of a man’s heart, and it is common to hear the motion of wind to and fro in the guts, and other small vessels; the stopping of the lungs is easily discovered by the wheezing, the stopping of the head by the humming and whistling noises, the slipping to and fro of the joints, in many cases, by crackling, and the like, as to the working or motion of the parts one among another ”

“ In the former case, by an act which is called scenting something, and is resorted to for the sake of a keener sensation, we first close the mouth, and then sometimes draw in a full breath, sometimes a succession of short, quick inspirations. Then the muscular apparatus edging the opening of the nostrils comes into play, to contract that orifice, and point it downward, so as to increase the intensity of the current of inhaled air. When, on the contrary, we wish to smell as little as possible, the organ becomes passive. ”

“ Let his nose and ears be cut off! Let him be flayed alive, or burnt at a slow fire and his ashes scattered to the winds! Oh, I shall die of shame and despair!’
Her women ran at the sound of her screams, and tried to wrench off the horns, but it was of no use, and they only gave her a violent headache. ”

“ Voluptuous enjoyment causes a vibration of the nerves, and forces from our lips the same moans as pain, which dulls the fire of life.
The respiratory movements are accelerated and panting, sometimes arrested, then recommencing irregularly; the breath pours stormily from the dilated nostrils, there is a singing in the ears, the heart beats more rapidly, and its pulsations resound with such violence that we wonder how a slight tickling of the nerves can produce such inward agitation. ”

“ In a highly nervous state men mistake the motor feeling of speech for the sound of speech, as if caused by another or objective person. A subjective irritation of the skin may be mistaken for the objective crawling of an insect over the skin. A polypus in the nose may produce a disturbance in the function of the nose which is interpreted as an odor. A man may smell paradisic odors or mephitic stenches by reason of disease in the olfactory organ. In the same manner diseases produce hallucinations of the gustatory sense. ”

“ Symptoms.—A dull, thumping sound is heard to proceed from the cavity of the chest, which, in extreme cases, may be heard on both sides, and may even be audible at a distance of some yards, corresponding to the beatings of the heart and pulse; tumultuous breathing, redness of the mucous membranes, increased temperature 75of the body. Auscultation will detect blood sounds in the neighborhood of the heart, large arteries, and veins. These “anemic murmurs” vary with the condition of the blood, and are caused by its “churning” as it passes through the traversing channels of the heart. ”

“ The nostrils are dilated, the nose extended, the face anxious, the eyes bloodshot and the back arched. Froth may accumulate around the lips, or the mouth may be held open with the tongue pendent. Sometimes a quantity of gas may suddenly escape with a loud noise, but without securing permanent relief. ”

“ At all events, it appears that the vocal cords are contracted, for not unfrequently the animal utters an inarticulated, unnatural, sharp cry, which may be taken for the passage of air through the obstructed larynx. ”

“ Stimulation of the auditive centers, in the same part of the brain, provokes movements of the ears, eyes, and head, showing astonishment or terror, just like those caused by a violent and unexpected noise. Ablation causes deafness; the animal remains indifferent to all sounds. Excite the centers of touch, and the signs indicate disagreeable or painful tactile impressions. Ablation brings on complete anæsthesia of the same parts; you may prick, cut, and bruise the animal, and he remains insensible. ”

“ A loud friction or rubbing sound, which may be imitated by placing the back of one hand upon the ear and rubbing the palm of the opposite hand upon it, is likewise heard over the left side after eating. It is produced by the movements of the paunch during contraction and not being synchronous with the respiratory acts cannot be confounded with the friction sounds of pleurisy to be hereafter noticed. ”

“ The breathing is noisy, and when the air is drawn into the chest there is often a crowing or whistling sound produced from obstruction in the throat, due to spasm of the muscles and to dried mucus coating the lining membrane, or to swelling in the larynx. ”

“ Attention should be paid to the whispered voice, and, still again, the two sides show a normal disparity. The sound heard with the whispered voice, which may be distinguished as the normal bronchial whisper, is louder on the right than on the left side, and somewhat higher in pitch on the left side, at the summit of the chest. ”

“ A similar treatment of the lower external convolution produced certain movements of the angles of the mouth; the animal opened the mouth widely, moved its tongue, and uttered loud cries, or mewed in a lively way, sometimes starting up and lashing its tail as if in a furious rage. The stimulation of one part of this convolution caused the animal to screw up its nostrils on the same side ”

“ Dyspnœa frequently arises from paralysis of the muscles of the larynx, in consequence of effusion at the base of the brain, from long-continued irritation, as from an irritating cause seated in the mouth, and in old people from a general decay of the animal powers. ”

“ As regards sounds, there is no doubt of a vague instinctive susceptibility, at least to what is harsh—sharp, or plaintive. Children less than a month old will show pain at such sounds. A harsh cry, or a sharp sound like that of a tin horn, will sometimes make them draw down the mouth and cry even during the first week. ”

“ He is such a good animal, that when I apply the pneumograph to [125] the thorax and put him on the table in order to write the respiratory movements, he lies for hours quietly slumbering. But a mere nothing, the slightest noise, is sufficient to cause an alteration in the rhythm of breathing. This is an experiment which I have often repeated before my colleagues, in order to show the extreme sensibility of the respiratory mechanism to psychic conditions. ”

“ Now, for years past, he has remarked that the small sweeps, who mount so glibly to the top of the flue, rarely do anything but make a noise—they scream and shout for ten minutes, or so, and then come down, with their eyes red, and their noses bloody, and cry themselves sick, till they get bread-and-butter. ”

“ Hang 'em, how they hissed! It was not a hiss neither, but a sort of a frantic yell, like a congregation of mad geese; with roaring sometimes like bears; mows and mops like apes; sometimes snakes, that hissed me into madness. ”

“ It then yields place to pain, which is another form of sensation, and which continues until the nerve apparatus is destroyed. Two persons may be equally able just to hear the same faint sound, and they may equally begin to be pained by the same loud sound, and yet they may differ as to the number of intermediate grades of sensation. ”

“ But this I aver, whatever the cause, upon such nights of storm, the sensoria of some men are crossed by such wild variety and succession of images, as amounts very nearly to the Walpurgis of a fever. It is not the mere noise—other noises won't do it. The air, to be sure, is thin, and blood-vessels expand, and perhaps the brain is pressed upon unduly. ”

“ It has already been many times urged that when breathing is satisfactory, breath does not escape to any considerable extent into the mouth cavity, but that the expiratory blast is used to set the air of the resonance-chambers into vibration. ”

“ Where irritation coincides with sensation to produce the same catenations of motion, as in inflammatory fevers, they are excited with still greater energy than by the irritation alone. So when children expect to be tickled in play, by a feather lightly passed over the lips, or by gently vellicating the soles of their feet, laughter is most vehemently excited ”

“ But the expulsion of air from the lungs is effected by certain muscles of the chest and abdomen. The force with which these muscles contract, is proportionate to the intensity of the feeling experienced. Hence, à priori, loud sounds will be the habitual results of strong feelings. That they are so we have daily proof. The pain which, if moderate, can be borne silently, causes outcries if it becomes extreme. While a slight vexation makes a child whimper, a fit of passion calls forth a howl that disturbs the neighbourhood. ”

“ The drifting reek of past explosions filled the nostrils, choked the breath in chests that labored to respire the heated atmosphere. The men lay lax and faint, their swollen tongues protruding from cracked lips, while the perspiration rolled down their faces. ”

“ The animal often grunts, or moans, with each breath. The animal’s nose protrudes, and there is a driveling of saliva from the mouth. Sometimes there are quite severe colicky pains, shown by the animal’s kicking at its belly and stepping about uneasily. ”

“ If we analyze the sneeze, we find that it simply consists of a spasm of the pharynx, larynx and diaphragm through the reflex action of this membrane. The over-stimulation of the membrane, in the case of the singer especially, may generally be set down to an incipient cold; but any inflammation of this part of the mucous membrane of the nose alone may give rise in reflex action to vocal disability. ”

“ The innervation of the voluntary muscles is increased, but in an un-coordinated and spasmodic form; the voice is broken and harsh, the body leans forward in the attitude of aggression, the movements are violent and destructive; “one strikes blindly,” the breath comes in gasps with the well-known symptom of the dilated nostrils, the object of which, according to Piderit, is that of taking a full breath while the mouth is shut and the teeth clenched. ”

“ They each quickly but remorselessly close, yet so gently that the latch does not catch, and every breath of draught (and we by no means stop at breaths) sways them noisily to and fro with a sound that is excessively irritating to the nerves. ”

“ Persons who are painfully affected by loud noises should put a little wool in their ears when such noises are occurring; they will thereby save themselves from temporary inconvenience, and probably preserve the sense of hearing from permanent injury.
992. Why do we smell?
Because minute particles of matter, diffused in the air, come in [Pg 240] contact with the filaments of the olfactory nerve, which are spread out upon the walls of the nostrils, and those nerves transmit impressions to the brain, constituting what we call the odour of substances. ”

“ Soon the pulse becomes more frequent and loses its fulness, the breathing is more laborious and attended with a characteristic lifting of the flanks and loins, the nostrils are widely dilated, the limbs outstretched and the elbows outturned, the eyes stare and project and the countenance has a haggard appearance indicating threatened suffocation. ”

“ Causes of temporary roaring. Whatever impedes the current of air causes roaring. Hence inflammatory diseases of the nose, throat, windpipe or bronchial tubes; abscess of one or the other of these parts; inflammation of a jugular vein and pressure on the trachea or vagus nerve by the resulting swelling; choking; the swelling in the neck consequent on the cutting open of the gullet for the relief of choking; thickening of the nostrils from dropsy, loss of a jugular vein, purpura hemorrhagica etc. ”