Ear trumpet

They have largely been replaced in wealthier areas of the world by modern hearing aid technology that is much smaller and less obtrusive, albeit more expensive.

[1] The earliest description of an ear trumpet was given by the French Jesuit priest and mathematician Jean Leurechon in his work Recreations mathématiques (1634).

These holes acted as the receiving area for the acoustics, which were transmitted to the back of the throne via a speaking tube, and into the king's ear.

[5] Finally in the late 1800s, the acoustic horn, which was a tube that had two ends, a cone that captured sound, and was eventually made to fit in the ear.

Rein pioneered many notable designs, including his 'acoustic headbands', where the hearing aid device was artfully concealed within the hair or headgear.

Reins' Aurolese Phones were headbands, made in a variety of shapes, that incorporated sound collectors near the ear that would improve the acoustics.

The midwife presses the wide end of the horn against the pregnant woman's belly to monitor heart tones.