Not one in ten thousand, perhaps, Mr. John Bell says, can move his ears.
The celebrated Mr. Mery used, when lecturing, to amuse his pupils by
saying that in one thing he surely belonged to the long-eared tribe;
upon which he moved his ears very rapidly backwards and forwards. And
Albinus, the celebrated anatomist, had the same power, which is
performed by little muscles, not seen. Mr. Haydon tried it once in
painting, with great effect. In his picture of Macbeth, painted for Sir
George Beaumont, when the Thane was listening in horror before
committing the murder, the painter ventured to press the ears forward,
like an animal in fright, to give an idea of trying to catch the nearest
sound. It was very effective, and increased amazingly the terror of the
scene, without the spectators being aware of the reason.