The termination of the nerves in the vestibule and semicircular canals of mammals : read before the British Association, Glasgow, September, 1876 / by Urban Pritchard.

  • Pritchard, Urban, 1845-1925.
Date:
[1876]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The termination of the nerves in the vestibule and semicircular canals of mammals : read before the British Association, Glasgow, September, 1876 / by Urban Pritchard. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    s. VOL XVI.—NEW SER.l /oX V v The Termination Semicircular Canals of Mammals. Read before the British Association, Glasgow, September, 1876, by Urban Pritchard, M.D., F.R.C.S., Aural Surgeon to King’s College Hospital, Lecturer on Animal Physi- ology, King’s College, London. (With Plate XXVIII.) In this paper I propose giving the results of my investi- gations into the structure of the nerve-epithelium, as it is called, which contains the terminal distribution of the acoustic nerves in the vestibule and semicircular canals. Up to the present this structure has been chiefly studied in the cold-blooded vertebrates and birds; and the various observers (including Max Schultze, Kolliker, Odenius, Hasse, Riidinger, Ebner, and Meyer), although they agree as regards certain general points, yet appear to differ considerably respecting many important questions. Having been fortunate enough to make some very suc- cessful preparations of this nerve-epithelium in the adult and foetal cat, which to my mind throw considerable light on the subject, I have ventured to lay before you the results of these observations. The area of distribution of the acoustic nerve in the vestibule and semicircular canals is limited to five spots,— one situated respectively in each division of this part of the membranous labyrinth; namely, the Saccule, Utricle, and three ampulla?. In the latter the area of distribution is raised into a kind of ridge or crest, and for this reason was named by Max Schultze the Crista Acustica; whereas in the Saccule and Utricle it is merely an oval spot, and has received the name of the Macula Acustica from the same author. In the region of these acoustic ridges and spots the mem- branous labyrinth is firmly adherent, by means of a layer of dense connective tissue, to the bony wall, not being separated by the epilymph as in other parts of the labyrinth, and the membrane itself is specially modified in structure.