A BOX ON THE EAR.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XII, Issue 165, 14 July 1877, Page 4

A BOX ON THE EAR.

I [ Froin Jhe. Q«ee«] | Afc. Manchester,; one . dsy^itt tha.Abej ginning of r .March-_,laßt r % prisoner waa ■charged yith thej .njanalaugjiter of a girl, fourteen jreara. of age, one of the hands employed in a mill. Tba, p@|boe;rf Wa|'' oyerlob^erT rOWeTniifi jij^blk^'ehe^gir^Sffajf 1 atfi 1 j thQrrjnjEtfher .of J ife^girlpatjssi'feed I that she „bad. r deairad'' him to | ch_as ise, her Sa^gßaf if" tt^e-jgit^-dicU ' anything wrong^ :i Oh Stbe oKl^di'' {gust in laßtyear the "overlooker imagined tbaJ ."ifie girf Sad rxl(s6oay3l ''aome !o4 jth^ jreguia((iop : s of -ike, r i«r,4fei?t^ ' afife'-KaO 1 gone 6&£ "to* gef hof water for breakfast. In coQEeqhen^e of this jsl^osUioa^ add,' we /au^posef 1 itf { con-' • |Bequence also, of the perm iasion of the i mother, he punished the girl^ by hitting^ h^paTth'&aide^fr^ thand. At" dinner timerlhe poor child jcomplained of a pain in 'tier head, and jlay down, unable to eat any dinner. OnJgoiag home, about six ifcthe eve'a-: ing,' she " aiiVt- ctmpTained'Sf "her headY about haH-paatsisvin/W^aioro^ng fihe became- 1 insensible^ an^d'-'died 'abbW a ijuarter to .seven; j:.g3j!alsrl>itneßßes proved that the blow,:^aa nothing more than ,f a- "box- on ihe ear/ •^QQevrf jleoca- ot. medical i.men : ' showed -ihttt deajh was cauaed. by the rupture of one of the oerebral vessels .which might be , caused by even a slight blow,. The ; jury lcfokad upon -the case as of deaf h : aby.' .miaadvgiiture ,; aad '.ihe: marii) was discharged, after .an expression on part of the Judge of a hope that (jbat other overlookers would not 1 resort to suoh a mode of duastisment. : We have seldom read a. more incase than. *;hat \o, whTich w"e; have now ? referred, and we ear neatly beg ttha attention of all our readers to. it. I A -box on the ear is one of the inoae coaiuaon modes of punishing children when they are subjected at all to r corporal ; punishment, .aud it ia'oue to wHiflh servants, and we. are sorry to say; teachers and parents <(«?ho ought iii know better) often resort, under the impression thkt thtar chaaii^ement inflicted ie , rather a slighT one. „, . ,. t The" outer "ear is, fortuhateiy or un-* eeldooi very sensitive, -fortunately it is not. so,~ because of the c pjalliagß. <an.d..pinishings which are iu^> fiicted -o a it itr~ panishmen(r~anil"iir teasing, and' id. tha' ear-piSroTng^in' which savage nations rejoice, and which - niniaths' with us aa'a '* a^rYiVfil^ bPVhel htiiftar -ot trnc/iViliaftu' ! aiifcesioVs^ Udkrtunately, too, it is ! nofc aensitive ? , boca'aie' ft^aeenas to be imagined that' . ~t\ e "STtd die "an d""Tn d ef "paYti" of t h e~e n r,~ -Uq wViSH Iha-io^ier 7 Te'aual i aVe ( ;e([ually inaeusifciv'ejaiHt Bb r balculated to ,'^ive 1 i ule pain when "oasaulted. _, : I IF : the outer ear! 'were as kiiia^iye.as , tfce outer membraQe of the eye, cloubtieja people. Lwo'd Id ashttlegiva children;, a box ion the ear as a blow in the eye — ofj tbirtwo, indeed, the" latter"wpurd"be productive; uof ". the: Jeast /.peßßfAaeatinjury. A blow attllfcLeAear not only ebukes the whole of the delicate struc"lurQfdf the i: heA(J, aud of the- brainy

bony bos that forma the larger part of the skull, but it differently affects the organ of hearing itself in those inner and central portion? by whose.agency < the function of hearing is performed. No one, who has no 6 seen them can imagine the exquisite delicacy of the tiny ; bbcies, -the thin membranes, "the fine, arrangements [of nerves, of blood-' vessels, of vibpating, fluids, for whose accommodation a special Htlie hollow is carved out of the Jbones of the skull. A blowof the hand brought to bear on the ear is like a blow with a hammer on a thin ease containing delicate yes- j sela-of precious Venetian glass. A box on the ear is one of the most senseless \ and cruel of all the punishments inflicted on children. I Oases of death, resulting as quickly ! 88 the one recorded above, do not, it is true, often occar.. But easea of deafness, as all aurista know, are very frequent, and abscesses of a serious kind, not unfrequently coma from a slight blow— -such aa may be given merely in fun. We would beg all who may be inclined to inflict a bos on the ear to paase ia time, and bo! to do ifi. •JJ\f 7-. «aay^in a moment iniliei injuries which can never be repaitad.