To the Editor: The following incident may be of interest to your readers. A woman in her mid-40's phoned me one sunny afternoon stating that she had just experienced a sudden attack of severe pain in the right ear while she was outdoors. She disclaimed having had any previous upper respiratory trouble or ear complaint or nausea or dizziness. However, she added that since the onset of the pain she was experiencing intermittent rumbling or rustling sounds in the ear. I was at a loss to explain this phenomenon and was inclined to dismiss it as a neuralgia in an emotional woman. Still, at her insistence that the pain was unbearable I agreed to meet her at the office in a few minutes. When I first looked into the ear I saw nothing abnormal except a tiny bright red spot on the postero-inferior quadrant which appeared like a small hematoma.