What the Deaf Hear SIR.—Janus asks, " How far can
the deaf hear music ? " Having been deaf all my life perhaps I can enlighten him a little. " A delicate ear for verbal music" might be interpreted as hearing the inflexion and seeing the word, though sometimes they do not tally. If normal people would realise this, there would be less loneliness for the deaf. Usually, if we do not hear a sentence the fist time, it means we have missed the key word, so if the sentence is repeated differently, we would prob- ably get it, and much nervous strain would be saved on both sides. It is humiliating to hear the exasperation and not the words, when the same sentence is repeated several times.
For the last 25 years I have not been able to hear music, even when I knew the tune and words, yet before then I could enjoy good singing and playing by others. 1. rarely hear thunder, and did not hear the sirens, yet can often enjoy the birds singing in the garden.
May I put in a word about the hearing aids They are not all bliss. They magnify every sound, so we hear noises we are not used to, and find it most tiring. 1 could not use mine in a crowded room—it would be bedlam. It sounds Irish, but many- deaf people are very sensitive
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