The grand object for which the sense of hearing was given to man was for understanding, acquiring, and using language, or speech, for the enunciation of which the lips, the teeth, the tongue, the palate, in fact, the whole organization of the mouth and lower part of the face, is expressly modified, as is also the conformation of the larynx; but, be it observed, that without mind man could never have been a speaking animal. Here, then, we see a design often overlooked by those who study the economy of man. The ox hears, but it could not talk or utter language--that is, sounds modified in accent, in termination, in length--even if it would, for the organization of the vocal organs would prevent the required intonations; but as the lower animals are not destined to think, to argue, to admonish, to persuade--in short, as they are not destined for immortality--in them the faculty of speech would be out of harmony with their real condition and destiny. Language is a mental as well as corporeal exercise, for we have to learn what each sound uttered means, till at length it becomes natural to us, if we may use a popular expression. We have already alluded to the pleasure which the mind derives from music. Now, there are a few observations regarding deafness, or the deprivation of hearing, which cannot be out of place. Total deafness from various causes may take place in a person of mature years, or after he has advanced in life to years of adolescence; in such cases language will be retained, but the voice will be under no control, no modulation--one sentence may be shouted, another spoken in a whisper. We may adduce a case in point: an officer (a nobleman) in the battle of Waterloo had his auditory nerve destroyed by the concussion of the air from the bursting of a shell, or from the report of a cannon. He became totally deaf, and consequently lost all control over his voice, which became discordant, and difficult to be understood even by those who were his intimate associates. A similar instance is mentioned by an American writer, in which entire deafness, taking place at the age of eighteen, so affected the articulation, that the individual was no longer intelligible, even to his nearest friends. But, besides total loss of hearing, whether congenital, (that is, from birth,) or occurring at any future period, auditory incapacity manifests itself in various degrees, and under singular modifications. For example, a friend of the writer, who is extremely musical, and plays brilliantly on the piano, is so deaf that she scarcely understands a word of the conversation of persons around her; yet let a discordant note be struck, and she feelingly appreciates it. Another lady, with whom the writer is acquainted, cannot hear the shrill high-toned squeak of the shrew-mouse; and the writer knows some who cannot hear the cries of other shrill-toned animals, as the bat, or mouse, while to deeper, not louder notes, their ears are perfectly awake.