Frederick G. Parsons and Edward C. Baber

“ Adenoid vegetations, which consist of an abnormal enlargement of Luschka’s tonsil in the vault of the pharynx, frequently give rise to ear disease in children, and, if not attended to, lay the foundation of nasal and ear troubles in after life. ”

“ The internal ear first appears as a pit from the cephalic ectoderm, the mouth of which in Man and other mammals closes up, so that a pear-shaped cavity is left. The stalk of the pear which is nearest the point of invagination is called the recessus labyrinthi, and this, after losing its connexion with the surface of the embryo, grows backward toward the posterior cranial fossa and becomes the ductus endolymphaticus. ”

“ The roof is formed by a very thin plate of bone, called the tegmen tympani, which separates the cavity from the middle fossa of the skull. Below the roof the upper part of the tympanum is somewhat constricted off from the rest, and to this part the term “attic” is often applied. The floor is a mere groove formed by the meeting of the external and internal walls. The outer wall is largely occupied by the tympanic membrane (fig. 1, o) , which entirely separates the middle ear from the external auditory meatus ”

“ In the acute form the inflammation is less violent than in the acute suppurative inflammation, and is rarely accompanied by perforation. Chronic non-suppurative inflammation may be divided into the moist form, in which the symptoms are improved by inflation of the tympanum through the Eustachian tube, and the dry form (including sclerosis) , which is more intractable and in which this procedure has little or no beneficial effect. Diseases of the internal ear may be primary or secondary to an affection of the tympanum or to intracranial disease. ”

“ The human ear is divided into three parts—external, middle and internal. The external ear consists of the pinna and the external auditory meatus. The pinna is composed of a yellow fibro-cartilaginous framework covered by skin, and has an external and an internal or cranial surface. ”

“ The inner wall shows a promontory caused by the cochlea and grooved by the tympanic plexus of nerves; above and behind it is the fenestra ovalis, while below and behind the fenestra rotunda is seen, closed by a membrane. Curving round, above and behind the promontory and fenestrae, is a ridge caused by the aqueductus Fallopii or canal for the facial nerve. The whole tympanum is about half an inch from before backward, and half an inch high, and is spanned from side to side by three small bones, of which the malleus (fig. 1, 1 ) is the most external. ”

“ The modiolus is pierced by canals which transmit branches of the auditory nerve to the lamina spiralis.
The membranous labyrinth lies in the bony labyrinth, but does not fill it; between the two is the fluid called perilymph, while inside the membranous labyrinth is the endolymph. In the bony vestibule lie two membranous bags, the saccule (fig. 2, S) in front, and the utricle (fig. 2, U) behind; each of these has a special patch or macula to which twigs of the auditory nerve are supplied, and in the mucous membrane of which specialized hair cells are found (fig. 3, p) . ”

“ Flourishing societies for the study of otology (sometimes combined with laryngology) exist in almost all civilized countries, and they usually publish transactions consisting of original papers and cases. ”