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210
The Fairy-Land of Science
·
Arabella B. Buckley
125
This
stirrup
rests
upon
a
curious
body
which
looks
in
the
diagram
like
a
snail-shell
with
tubes
coming
out
of
it.
This
body,
which
is
called
the
labyrinth,
is
made
of
bone,
but
it
has
two
little
windows
in
it,
one
covered
only
by
a
membrane,
while
the
other
has
the
head
of
the
stirrup
resting
upon
it.
Now,
with
a
little
attention
you
will
understand
that
when
the
air
in
the
canal
shakes
the
drumhead
to
and
fro,
this
membrane
must
drag
with
it
the
hammer,
the
anvil,
and
the
stirrup.
Each
time
the
drum
goes
in,
the
hammer
will
hit
the
anvil,
and
drive
the
stirrup
against
the
little
window;
every
time
it
goes
out
it
will
draw
the
hammer,
the
anvil,
and
the
stirrup
out
again,
ready
for
another
blow.
Thus
the
stirrup
is
always
playing
upon
this
little
window.
Meanwhile,
inside
the
bony
labyrinth
there
is
a
fluid
like
water,
and
along
the
little
passages
are
very
fine
hairs,
which
wave
to
and
fro
like
reeds;
and
whenever
the
stirrup
hits
at
the
little
window,
the
fluid
moves
these
hairs
to
and
fro,
and
they
irritate
the
ends
of
a
nerve,
and
this
nerve
carries
the
message
to
your
brain.
There
are
also
some
curious
little
stones
called
otoliths,
lying
in
some
parts
of
this
fluid,
and
they,
by
their
rolling
to
and
fro,
probably
keep
up
the
motion
and
prolong
the
sound.
You
must
not
imagine
we
have
explained
here
the
many
intricacies
which
occur
in
the
ear;
I
can
only
hope
to
give
you
a
rough
idea
of
it,
so
that
you
may
picture
to
yourselves
the
air-waves
moving
backwards
and
forward
in
the
canal
of
your
ear,
then
the
tympanum
vibrating
to
and
fro,
the
hammer
hitting
the
anvil,
the
stirrup
knocking
at
the
little
window,
the
fluid
waving
the
fine
hairs
and
rolling
the
tiny
stones,
the
ends
of
the
nerve
quivering,
and
then
(how
we
know
not)
the
brain
hearing
the
message.
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