Myringotomy cleaning it with an ear spoon. Surprisingly, the patient's hearing improved. There are also reports from the 17th and 18th centuries describing separate experiments exploring the function of the ear drum. In particular, the animal experiments of Thomas Willis were expanded upon by Sir Astley Cooper, who presented two papers to the Royal Society in 1801 on his observations that myringotomy could improve hearing. First, he showed that two patients with perforations of both eardrums could hear perfectly well, despite conventional wisdom that this would result in deafness. Second, he demonstrated that deafness caused by obstruction of the Eustachian tube
River incision and dyked for flood control and to plant crops in the floodplain (Doyle, et al.). Normally, floods are allowed to spread out across the floodplain, allowing deposition of sediment and slowing water speeds, reducing the erosive potential of the water (Heiler, et. al. 1995). Channelization concentrates flood flows down the active channel, increasing erosion. River incision due to agriculture is well-documented throughout the agricultural regions of the world, such as the Central Valley of California (Florsheim, et. al. 2011). In-stream gravel mining is also well documented as a cause of river incision. Stable material on the river bed mitigate erosion