Hearing,
injured by deafness; noise in the ears, inflammation. The first is a frequent infirmity in old age. The causes, faults in the original structure of this curious and complex organ; defect of the auricle, straitness of the external auditory tube, its obstruction or concretion: the tympanum relaxed, callous, obstructed with hardened wax, mucus, serum, ulcers, luxuriant flesh; caries, luxation of the small auditory bones; obstruction of the vestibule, cochlea, labrynth: the membranes lax, dry, indurated; palsy, and spasm of the internal auditory muscles; constriction and obstruction of the eustachian tube; colds, catarrh, obstructed perspiration, rheumatism, plethora, suppressed evacuations; disorders of the stomach, costiveness; nervous, loud explosions, age, fever, soporous diseases, and diseases of the auditory nerves, and of the brain; symptomatick in several diseases. Inflammation of the ear excites excruciating pain, sometimes delirium.
Smelling
too acute, or blunt, or unnatural. The causes, the membrane lining the nose rigid, dry, deficiency or excess of its mucus tense, irritable, obstructed, scirrhous, callous, carious, stifled with polypus, snuff; palsy of the olfactory nerves; diseases of the brain; sordes and pus in the olfactory sinusses; and also in the mouth, gums, teeth, tongue, larynx, fauces; foul effluvia from the stomach.
Sternutation is symptomatick in several diseases; but sometimes, is a primary malady, it has been known to infest hours, days, or even weeks. The causes, epidemick influence of the air; suppressed nasal hemorrhage, or cutaneous eruptions; venereal; worms, or abscess in the sinusses; disease of the brain.
Taste.
The causes affecting the principal gustatory organ, the tongue: sordes of the tongue and mouth in various diseases; the saliva in quantity or quality diseased, and either depraved from the blood, or from washing over diseased parts of the mouth or palate; tension or laxity of the gustatory organ, or papillæ; faults of the lingual nerves; diseases of the stomach, fauces, nose, tongue, lips, &c.
Voice and Speech.
The immense multiplicity of objects, and the distance to the end of our literary journey, check us from expatiating upon this prolifick topick. Under it may be included hoarse, guttural, stridulous, deadened, stifled voice, or sound at the glottis; stammering, lisping, defect and impediments in articulation, muteness. The causes, defect or waste of mucus by exertion of the voice; destruction of the mucus ducts of the larynx; its cartilages ossified; injury of the recurrent nerves; laxity and palsy of the muscles of the glottis and contiguous cartilages; venereal; changes of weather; symptomatic in several diseases. Voice and speech may be injured in all the various parts of their complicated organization; the larynx, the pharynx, the tongue, uvula, fauces, nose, palate, gums, teeth, lips.