must be considered as having the same relation to this feature as to all others—giving strength, tone, and beauty.

THE FORMS OF THE EAR.

The general forms of the ear disclose not only the aural, musical, and linguistic capacities, but they also point to other characteristics.

The ear may be divided into several classes; of these the musical, the unmusical, the linguistic, the oratorical, the commercial, the refined, the coarse or unrefined, the timid, and the courageous are the principal types. The ears of these several classes are easily known after their peculiarities of structure are once observed.

THE MUSICAL EAR.

This ear has been well described in the preceding chapter, in the section devoted to the faculty of "Music." It has been de scribed by several physiognomists. Lavater gives the least precise description of the ear, although he speaks of the "musical ear," while Willis describes its peculiarities as follows:—

The rounded, well-formed ear, that sets forward and outward, instead of being flat on the side of the head, is a pretty good sign of musical taste if not of talent. The peculiarity of the musical ear is the thin rim which is hollowed out at the edge like the rim of a saucer.*

The rim of the ear of musicians is a remarkable object; if the student will observe any number of them he will find that all have this "rim" perfect in its outline around the top, and continuing in an unbroken line to the lobe, or very near to it. The rounding form and unbroken rim are not all the factors required in order to constitute a musical ear; there must be quality of a high order, the skin must be thin and fine, and the bell deep and broad, and possess great vertical depth. Delicacy of structure is another supreme factor in a musical ear, for a thin muscular ear is more sensitive than a thick one. Says Dr. Cross:

The more the external ear is cartilaginous and elastic, the better are the auditory rays conducted to the tympanum and the keener are the sentimental feelings.

It is not at all essential that there should be very great elaboration of the fossa innominata and the fossa navicularis in order to constitute a good musical ear. The elaboration or fluting of this part of the ear denotes a general development of the mind, and is not essential to the reception of musical

* Illustrated Physiognomy, E. A. Willis, p. 27.

tone and do not assist it, as is proven by the ear of Patti, which presents a perfectly unelaborate surface of the fossæ (Fig. 298). Patti's ear shows that she is more musical than mental, and this accounts for her phenomenal voice and its long-continued power, no other singer having ever retained her wonderful vocal powers to such advanced age. To sum up the peculiarities of a musical ear we find that rounding form, fine quality, a deep bell, and a perfectly formed rim are its essential concomitants, and to this may be added the fact that the ears of all active singers and musicians exhibit a good pink or red color, thus showing a good distribution of blood to the ear; this gives vigor to this organ and thus assists its aural capacity.

THE UNMUSICAL EAR.

According to Professor Willis this ear is "pointed or angular in its outline," and, as musical sounds are curvilinear in their pas

sage through the air, we can readily see why an angular ear would not be the best adapted to the reception of curvilinear sounds; they would necessarily become broken into noises upon striking the jagged points or angles of such an ear. This explains why those with unmusica! ears often remark that music is nothing but "noise"; to them it is really a mass of confused, unmelodious sound, for it is logical to infer that the internal mechanism of the ear of those who exhibit angular ears is as defective in structure as the external physiognomical indicator-the external ear. Br the same process of reasoning we determine that those animals whose ears are long and pointed do not distinguish nor enjoy musical sounds as well as those whose ears are rounding. Experi ments have been made by investigators upon animals in the Zoological Gardens of London in regard to their capacity for discrimi nating musical sounds. It was found that the zebra and other animals with pointed ears disliked the playing of musical instraments, while the apes and certain of the round-eared carnivora enjoyed the music, which they showed by lying down quietly and listening when it was played, and by becoming uneasy and restless when it ceased.

I have seen several singing mice, and these creatures possess a prettily rounded ear. On several occasions when playing the violin I received a visit from a wee specimen of the mouse family

that remained as long as I played and departed when the music ceased.

Some birds have round ear-openings and round throats and heads, and the circular formation of these organs is highly conducive to the giving forth and reception of musical tones; to prove that their judg ment of musical sounds is well-nigh perfect one has only to chirp musically to a canary and see how quickly it adjusts its voice to the pitch given, while the mocking-bird imitates the tone, pitch, melody, and intensity of the air rendered by a human voice in its presence. All songbirds possess round and short beaks. See, for example, the linnet, bull-finch, magpie, thrush, sky-lark, and mino bird; and for speech, the raven and parrot. The faculty of Time is well developed in horses and other animals, which can be easily trained to keep time in music by marching and evolutions.

THE ORATORICAL EAR.

FIG. 309.-ORATORICAL EAR. (GAMBETTA.)

The ears of all great orators and speakers are rounding in the outline, and have the bell deep and broad and wide perpendicu

larly.

FIG. 310.-COMMERCIAL EAR. (RosWELL P. FLOWER.)

See the ears of Henry Clay, Edward Everett, Gambetta, aud Rev. John Parrish Thompson.

THE COMMERCIAL EAR.

The ears of this class are long and broad, and in some instances appear elephantine in form and flexibility.

They are the largest of all classes of ears. As a rule they are associated with broad heads, large noses, wide jaws, and broad shoulders. Many commercial ears are found to be musical as well, for the round, musical body is one of the indications of commercial capacity. In these subjects the ear has all the characteristics of the musical ear and possesses large size, thus showing the commercial tendency of its possessor. For specimens of the commercial ear examine the ears of all bankers, financiers, and successful merchants, among whom I may mention W. H. Vanderbilt, Jay Gould, William E. Dodge, Roswell P. Flower, Henry Villard, and Perier, French financier.

GENEROUS VERSUS STINGY EARS.

There is an opinion current that the ear, by its size, denotes the presence either of generosity or parsimony.

It is held that small ears are stingy and large ears are indicative of generous instincts. I regard these two ideas as equally erroneous. I have known many small-eared persons to be very sympathetic, and also many long-eared persons to be very gen erous, and I have seen many persons with both large and small ears to be penurious and pinching. I should not rely upon the form or size of the ear to determine the presence of either of these faculties.

THE COURAGEOUS EAR.

The ear which is large and stands well out from the head, and is possessed of a good red color, denotes physical courage. It is usually associated with good muscular form.

THE TIMID EAR.

The greatest excess of timidity is found with those who have narrow, long, thin, bloodless ears, set closely against the side of the head. This type of ear is associated with delicately-formed individuals with long, thin faces, generally of a nervous or consumptive diathesis. This type of ear is similar in form to the ears of those timid animals, the hare and deer, and reveals some similar characteristics, viz., timidity and delicacy of structure.

THE LINGUISTIC EAR.

The ear of all who excel in verbal language is similar in form, quality, and color to the oratorical and musical ears, for the same