30 



SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS 



VOL. 93 



Delstanche (1878, p. 10), stated that though the exostoses showed 

 a tendency to occur on both sides, in his personal experience uni- 

 lateral cases were "much more frequent". Schlomka (1891, p. 16) 

 and Braunberger (1896) have also reached the conclusion that they 

 occurred more frequently unilaterally than bilaterally. On the other 

 hand, Von Troeltsch (1881, p. 141) saw them to be " predominantly 

 bilateral"; Sabroux (1901, p. 35) says they were "very frequently 

 bilateral " ; and there are other statements of similar import. 



Blake (1880) gives the first exact data on the subject. Of 231 old 

 Tennessee and California Indian skulls, 38 had ear exostoses: in 14 

 (36.8 percent) these were bilateral ; in 9 (23.7 percent) in the right ear 

 only; and in 15 (39.5 percent) in the left ear only. 



Attempts at statistical estimates in Whites were made by Korner 

 (1894), who found the exostoses in 64 percent of cases bilaterally, 

 in 36 percent unilaterally; and by Bezold (1895, p. 48) who found 

 them in 54.4 percent of cases on both sides and in 45.6 percent on 

 one side only. Bezold observed that occasionally, in cases originally 

 unilateral, in time a development of the abnormality would also take 

 place in the second ear. 



As to the side in the unilateral cases, Ferreri (1904) thought the 

 growths were more frequent on the left. 



New observations. — The table that follows gives the involvement of 

 the ears as to side in our material. 



Side 



Groups 



(in order of frequency 



of ear exostoses) 



Skulls 

 examined 



Percentage 

 of skulls 

 with ear 

 exostoses 



Percentage of skulls 

 with ear exostoses 



Bilateral 



Right ear 

 only 



Left ear 

 only 



Egyptian 



American: 



Eskimo 



Old Pueblo 



N. Dakota 



Florida 



California 



NE. States 



Peru 



Virginia 



Louisiana 



Arkansas 



S. Dakota, all 



S. Dakota, Mowhridge 

 Kentucky 



Polynesian: 



New Zealand 



Hawaii 



454 



1 ,000 

 500 

 29 

 395 

 435 

 112 



3,651 



65 

 61 



173 

 109 



76 

 90 



19 



148 



0.2 



24 



6.9 



8.9 



106 



II. 6 



143 



21 5 



24.6 



27.2 



275 



30-3 



32.2 



21 . 1 

 26.4 



33 3 



(100) 



58.3 

 (Num 



514 



75 o 

 53 8 



16.7 

 ber inade 

 28.6 

 23 9 

 15-4 

 16. 1 



7-2 

 133 

 19.2 

 20.0 



17 4 



13.8 



15-4 



44-5 



25.0 

 quate) 

 20,0 

 26. 

 38. 

 20. 

 14- 

 13- 

 17.0 

 20.0 

 21 .7 

 6.9 



25.0 

 30.8 



