THE MISTAKES OF THE DEAF.
[TO THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."]
SIR,—The phenomena of deafness which puzzle" Observer " are surely to be explained by an unsuccessful attempt at correcting imperfect hearing. Any one who has suffered from deafness must be well aware how often in conversation he has to use con- jecture, and how often such conjecture misses the mark. A deaf person feels that he has probably heard incorrectly, but not wishing to be troublesome, he will not ask the speaker to repeat what has been said, unless he is unable to make a likely guess. " Observer " asks,—" Where, at what stage in its journey to the brain, does the sentence or word get distorted r I would answer,—At the drum of the ear, defect or disease in which is the cause of deafness. In a similar manner, when we look through uneven glass we see a distorted object. These phe- nomena of deafness seem very analogous to some presented by defective sight ; as, for instance, an old-sighted friend of mine, reading from moderately small print the other day, mistook " Jeroboam " for " Jehoratn."—I am, Sir, &c., A. E. T.
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