Another collection of philosophical conferences of the French virtuosi upon questions of all sorts for the improving of natural knowledg made in the assembly of the Beaux Esprits at Paris by the most ingenious persons of that nation / render'd into English by G. Havers, Gent. & J. Davies ..., Gent.

CONFERENCE CCXXVIII. Of the Tingling of the Ears. (Book 228)

AS the Ear is the Instrument of that Sense which is called the Sense of the Disciple, and is more serviceable to us in order to Instruction, than all the rest put together; so is it not to be wondred, the Ancients should be of Opinion, that it contributed so highly thereto, that the most inconsiderable motions of it ad∣vertise us of things which seem to be farthest from our know∣ledge. Thence it came that they deduc'd certain conjectures of things to come from the tingling of the Ears, which they held to signifie good luck when it was on the right side; and the con∣trary, when it happen'd on the left Ear: which is to represent

enemies, as the former does friends; yet with this provision, that nothing contributed thereto from without, as for example, noise might do, or some other agitation of the air, stirr'd by some external cause, but the tingling must proceed from with∣in; sonitu suopte tinniunt aures, without which condition it sig∣nifies neither good nor bad luck, that is, nothing at all. And what seems somewhat to confirm this observation, is, that it hath not been cast out among all the other rubbish of superstitious Antiquity, but reigns even in the present Age, wherein not on∣ly many among the Vulgar commonly say, that they are well or ill-spoken of, when their ears glow or tingle, but also some of the better sort are also of the same perswasion. They ground this belief on the Sympathy or Antipathy there is between Friends and Enemies, which are such, that not being confin'd by the distance of places, which yet according to their opinion ought not to be too great, they force the species of voice and words towards the organs of Hearing, which are thereby ex∣cited, through the communication of those Magnetick Vertues, and these are not less sensible then those which the objects direct towards the same instruments in ordinary sensation; though they be more delicate and subtile. As the Lynx, the Eagle, and other sharp-sighted Animals see the species of visible objects far beyond their reach who are shorter-sighted; and the Birds of prey smell carcasses though they are very far from them.

The Second said, That it was a little too far fetcht, to attri∣bute those Effects to Sympathy, which being as abstruse as what some pretend to deduce from it, amounts to as much, as if one would prove one obscure thing by another which is yet more obscure. As therefore there is no action done beyond the limits appointed to every Agent, which comprehend the sphere of their activity, so can there not be any such between the so∣norous Species, and the Hearing of him who feels this Tingling, unless it be within the reach of his ear; which since it cannot be, when, for example, we are spoken of in our absence, it is im∣possible the Hearing should receive the impression of the voice pronounc'd in a place at too great a distance to be conveyd to it, inasmuch as it is necessary in all sensation, that, besides the good disposition of the sensitive Faculty and the Mean, there should be a proportionate distance between the sensible object and the organ, ere it can judge well of it. So that those who imagine they hear what is said of them afar off upon no other reason then that their ears tingle, have not their Hearing more sensibly, but, on the contrary, worse qualifi'd then others, through the di∣sturbance caus'd therein by gross humours, which occasion the same disorder in the Ear as suffusions do in the eye, when it sees the Objects in the same colour and figure as the vapours or hu∣mours, whereby it is clouded, though they be not effectually so. In like manner, the sound or noise, heard by those whose ears tingle, though it makes them conceive the species of such a sound

proceeding from without, is only illusory, and caus'd by the disorder of the ill-affected organ, but it communicates its irregu∣larity to the Imagination, when it frames to it self favourable consequences from such a humming in the right Ear, and some misfortune from the like in the left, there being not any reason, by which so fantastick and chimerical an opinion can be main∣tain'd.

The Third said, That it is injuriously done to deny Man that advantage which we find by experience, that some, not only brute Beasts, but also Plants have, to wit that of having a pre∣vious feeling of the good or evil which are to happen to them by a property bestow'd on them by Nature for their conservation. Thus we find Rats forsake the house which will soon after fall down; Lice take leave of one that is dying; Birds of prey come from far distant places to their food; the Swallow comes to give us a visit in the Spring, and spends that delightful season with us; which once past, she goes to find out other Springs in unknown Countries. The Ox gives us notice of an approach∣ing shower, when, having lifted up his head very high, and breath'd withall, he immediately falls a licking his thighs; The Cat makes the same Prognostication, when she combs her self as it were, with her paws; The same thing is done by the Water-fowl called the Ducker, and the ordinary, Drake, when they settle their feathers with their beaks; The Frogs do the same by their importunate croaking; The Ants, by the extraordinary earnestness they express in hoarding up their corn; and the Earth-worms, when they appear above ground; Nay, the poor Trefoyl will close it self upon the approach of a Tempest, as do al∣so most Plants in foul weather; which being over, they spread abroad their leaves and flowers, and seem newly blown, as it were to congratulate the return of the Sun, as is done, among others, by the Marigold, which for that reason is called Helio∣tropium; for the great correspondence there is between it and that all-enlivening Star. Nay, that correspondence is also so remarkably obvious in the other Plants, that those who have observ'd them most exactly, affirm, that there is not any herb so despicable, but it hath an interiour character, answerable to that of some Star, which communicates its vertues and qualities to it, and thence it comes to be called a terrestrial Star. Why therefore should it come into dispute, whether Man hath such a Priviledge, as that he may be sensible of what is prejudicial or advantageous to him, by that tingling of the Ear, which may well be the sign thereof though the cause be not absolutely ma∣nifest? For, experience it self and the effects consequent to the observation do very much confirm it, for those being commonly answerable to what had been conceiv'd by those to whom that kind of Divination by the Ears had happened, there is as much ground to give it some credit, as there is to deduce any thing from some other less considerable accidents, from which the like

conjectures are made; such as are, for example, among others, the twinkling of the Eyes, sneezing, the meeting of something extraordinary, especially a Negro, an Eunuch, or some other defective person; and the striking of ones feet against the thresh∣old of his own door, which prov'd fatal to C. Gracchus, who was murther'd the very day that such an accident had happened to him; as also to Crassus, the day he was defeated by the Parthians. In all which signs there is much less likelihood of declaring the accidents, which some would attribute thereto, than may be imagin'd in the Tingling of the Ear, as being the seat of the Me∣mory, which the Ancients for that reason were wont to stir up, by plucking the tip of it; and if it be true what Plato saith, that all our Knowledge is but Reminiscence, and that we only remem∣ber the Species of things, which had been before in our Under∣standing, it will be no hard matter to find out some ground for this praesension.

The Fourth said, That there was no other conjecture to be drawn from this Tingling of the Ear, than that the Person sub∣ject thereto, hath a weak and ill-dispos'd Brain, which breeding abundance of ill humours, if they come to make any stoppage in the passages of the Ear, its action is vitiated and obstructed by that Tingling, which is a symptom of a deprav'd Hearing, and causes the party to hear an importunate sound or noise, though there be not any made without, and that there be not any application of the hollowness of the hand to the Ear, in which case it hears some such noise. 'Twould therefore be ridiculous to look after any other causes thereof than what may be in the disposition of the Brain, and the excrements it produceth, on the diversity whereof as also on that of their Motion in the Ears, that Tingling depends; as do also the Breathing, the Ringing, the Buzzing, and the Swimming of the Ear, which are Symptoms of a deprav'd Hearing; the breathing or blowing being done by a little blast which gets out gently; the Tingling by the interruption of its motion; the ringing proceeds from a more gross vapour, and such as blows more strongly; as the resounding does from an impulsion yet more vehement; and lastly, the Swimming is caus'd by the agitation of these as well vaporous as spirituous matters, which being different and differently moved, produce those different sounds. And therefore it is absurd, to derive any other marks of what should happen to us, then those laid down in Medicine, which teaches us, that they who are subject to these frequent tinglings and ringings of the Ears are in their way to Deafness, by reason of the danger there is, that these vaporous humours should make so strong an obstruction in the organs of Hearing, that the auditory air cannot get into it, to make sensation: and if this happen in a burning Feaver, together with dimness of the eyes, it is a certain presage of the di∣straction or madness, which ordinarily follows that noise of the Ear.