[I]f forceps or syringing will not bring out any extraneous body, the patient is to sit down quietly, and let it remain where it is, till the accumulating wax forces it out: this is surely not the way to treat such a case; it is, however quite as proper as the method recommended, as we are informed, by a very eccentric surgeon, in similar cases–viz. to apply contra coups, till the substance, with the force of the blows, is expelled,–or in plain English, to box the other ear til the substance jumped out–how very mechanical this!

William Wright, commenting on various advices for deafness as proposed by other aurists and surgeons (‘The Aurist,’ 1825)