effects are real, not imaginary; but interior, not exterior; arising from the disturbance of disease. They are sometimes, in the case of the insane, not only, as indicated, caused by disease, but come in turn to be a cause of its aggravation, from the fact of their being considered by the sufferers as objective sounds, or sounds originating in the outer world, and, besides that, are misconstrued as to significance, and regarded as persecuting voices. If the reader should ever come across a French work by A. Brierre de Boismont, on hallucinations, he will find the topic of subjective noises, believed to be objective ones, elaborately set forth. When it is known that the acutely insane are liable to tumors of the ear, it ceases to be surprising that they should be prone to misinterpretation of sounds. But, putting tumors entirely out of question, when we reflect that insanity is a disease of the matter of the brain, and that the brain is connected with the ear by means of the auditory nerve, it is easy to see that the cerebral disease may involve that nerve, and all reason for wonderment at the delusions of some of the insane from a perverted sense of hearing, physically coupled as the optic nerve is with the organization of the brain proper, should cease.

There are various disorders to which the ear is liable. The most common of these is simple earache, which is caused by inflammation of a part or the whole of the meatus auditorius, or passage into the ear from the side of the head. The reader will remember that there is another passage into the ear of which we spoke the Eustachian tube. For the affection of earache nothing is more effective than the applications made with the lotions represented by the two following recipes :

Heat the mixture, and insert in the ear a small piece of raw cotton moistened with it.

Sulphate of atropine,

4 grains.

Pure water,

11⁄2 ounce.

With a camel's hair pencil brush inside of ear frequently with mixture.

In a similar manner a 5- to a 10-per-cent. solution of cocaine can be administered to the ear, affording quick relief from pain. Syringing it with simple hot water is also sometimes attended with speedy relief from pain.

Affections more serious than earache should cause instant resort to a skillful aurist, as any one can for himself judge advisable, when it is mentioned that there may be ulceration and abscess, of the ear, thickening and perforation of its drum-membrane, producing partial or entire deafness, and many more ailments of the organ, some of which are very obscure, and undiscoverable except by the skillful aurist. The Eustachian tube may be partially occluded (closed) from the presence of inflammation in the throat, and, as previously mentioned, this condition affects the hearing.

The ear, we wish strongly to impress upon the reader, is liable to affections that need the interposition of the aurist. This is sometimes the case even when the difficulty is not so serious as to suggest impairment of the organ, as in the case of the formation of a hard mass of wax at the bottom of the outer passage of the ear. The wax of the ear is secreted for the benefit of the organ, but, especially in old age, it sometimes forms in a hard mass which the sufferer might find it difficult, or dangerous to the drum-membrane, to attempt to dislodge. It is best, therefore, in all cases beyond a simple earache, to go without delay to an experienced practitioner in diseases of the ear. Take time also by the forelock by obtaining proper medical advice in the case of children who, from being of a scrofulous constitutional taint, have running from the ears. This is sometimes produced by enlargement of the tonsils affecting the Eustachian tube, and should be attended to.

Delicate membranes such as those possessed by the ear cannot long withstand the invasion of pus, or matter, as it is popularly called, that flows from ulcerations and abscesses.

Nothing but the eye approaches the ear in delicacy of organization, and it will not bear tampering with or neglect. Therefore, our first and last advice is to go to an aurist when you suspect that you have any serious affection of the ear. With the sentinel of pain as your guardian, with the sense of hearing as your guide, you ought to be able to divest yourself of illusions. One last word only as to an aurist. Be sure you find a good one, for a quack would be worse than none.

The practice of wearing pieces of cotton-wool in the ear is not considered good. They sometimes prevent the egress of septic (poisonous) fluids that should be allowed free escape. In a case of unusual sensitiveness of the ear to cold, one might properly adopt the plan for an occasion of unusual exposure. We are, however, speaking to the point of the constant habit of thus protecting the ear. If it seems to require such protection habitually, that is proof that it is not in a healthy condition, and recourse should be had to the advice of an aurist as to the proper treatment to adopt to render it less sensitive to cold.

If your case is one of only moderate stopping up of the ear with wax, not such a one as we have witnessed, where the hearing was sensibly disturbed and the uncomfortableness great, from the presence of a mass of hardened wax, or if you are away in some place remote from civilization, where it is not possible to have access to a good aurist, you would be warranted in carefully syringing the ear with soap-suds and hot water, which simple treatment sometimes has the effect of softening and removing the wax. Under these circumstances, obeying the law of necessity, one is of course warranted in treating himself for any affection. We therefore add to the previous directions others which may be found useful under similar circumstances. You may, after syringing the ear with soap-suds and hot water every day or two, twice daily have some glycerin dropped into the ear, or you may dip a piece of raw cotton into the glycerin

and insert it in the ear. The following recipe is useful for the

Heat the mixture, and drop some of it into the ear once or twice a day. The two following recipes are merely for external treatment, to remove inflammation of the auricle, as it is called,-the external ear,-and to heal cracks in it :—

As the odor of tar is offensive to some persons, the following

recipe is added for their especial benefit :