Article August 23, 1947 Issue

HOW DO YOU HEAR AND SEE?

ETHEL DANIELS HUBBARD

The story is told of a famous naturalist who was walking with a friend along a noisy and crowded street in lower New York City. In the midst of the bedlam of sounds the naturalist casually remarked, "I hear a cricket." His companion scoffed at the idea, declaring it impossible to hear the tiny chirp of a cricket in all that din. Unperturbed the naturalist led his friend to a basement window, and there on the ledge was a cricket! "Wait," said the naturalist, "I'll show you something else;" and he dropped a dimeA correction was made in the December 20, 1947 Sentinel: In the article "How Do You Hear and See?" in the Sentinel of August 23, 1947, it is stated that to illustrate a point one "dropped a nickel on the sidewalk" and that it made a "light tinkling sound." The coin should have been described as a dime, for of course a five-cent piece, made of a different metal, would not produce this sound. on the sidewalk. It made a light tinkling sound, scarcely discernible one would think in all that roar, but immediately there was a rush to pick it up.

One sees and hears that in which one is most interested. This denotes the mental element essential to human sight and hearing. If this mental element proceeds from the human mind, it expresses the interests, vagaries, and limited capacities of that mind. The human ear cannot detect sounds too far away, nor is it tuned to certain delicate vibrations perceptible to some birds and animals. The mocking bird, for example, can outdo the human sense of hearing, for it catches and reproduces notes of birds that are inaudible to men.

The human faculty of sight is restricted not only in extent but in clarity of perception. Even at their normal level, human sight and hearing vary according to the aptitude, training, and environment of the individual. The artist discerns nuances of color and subtleties of form unobserved by the ordinary beholder. The musician and the naturalist detect sounds unnoticed by the layman.

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