34 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTION'S VOL. 93 



Delstanche (1878) says that the growths may develop from any 

 point of the meatus, but arise most frequently posteriorly. For Blake 

 (1880), most of them are on the posterior wall; for Ayres (1881), 

 they are in any portion of the canal but most frequent posteriorly ; 

 Von Troeltsch (1881, p. 141) states they "occur as well at the be- 

 ginning of the bony canal as close to the drum .... by far the most 

 often from the posterior and superior, less often from the anterior 

 wall." 



R. Virchow, and after him Hartmann, Ostmann. Korner, and Marx, 

 held that the abnormal bony growths in the external auditory canal 

 originated generally (or even invariably) from the borders of the 

 tympanic bone, where they lay on and fused with the squamous portion 

 of the temporal ; some of these authors, however, had observed also 

 occasional exostoses in other parts of the canal. Moos (cited by Gold- 

 stein, 1898), in his cases, observed that they arise " invariably from 

 the upper wall of the canal, almost at its outer end " ; in Jacquemart's 

 ( 1889) practice they were " encountered most commonly at the in- 

 ferior part of the meatus." 



Among additional statements, some of which merely repeat others, 

 the following may be quoted. Schlomka (1891, p. 16) : "As to their 

 origin, these exostoses arise most often from the postero-superior wall 

 of the auditory canal .... more seldom from the anterior, most 

 rarely from the lower portion of the same." Sabroux (1901, p. 34) 

 says that they develop anteriorly and posteriorly as well as superiorly 

 and inferiorly. " but it is at the union of the cartilaginous with the 

 bony part (of the meatus), or again quite close to the drum, that we 

 observe them most often." Ferreri (1904): "Most frequent pos- 

 teriorly and superiorly." Kessel ( 1889, p. 285) : "As far as the place 

 of origin is concerned, the globular exostoses arise from the posterior 

 and superior wall, the cylindrical ones extend along the floor of the 

 meatus parallel to its axis, while the osteophytes occur preferably on 

 the superior part of the inner portion of the canal." Kerrison (1913, 



p. 125) : " Oftenest on the anterior and posterior walls When 



one growth only is present, the anterior wall near the attachment of 

 the drum membrane, is the most common site." Dahlstrom (1923, 

 p. 213) : " Most of the exostoses were found approximately on the 

 boundary between the cartilaginous and the bony parts." Burton 

 (1927) : " By far the larger number of aural exostoses are found 

 along the suture lines between the canal and the rest of the temporal 

 bone." Oetteking (1930, p. 249): "The pea-shaped restricted to 

 marginal area of meatus; more or less pedunculated anterior or 

 posterior ; the crest-shaped is elongated and extends from without 

 inward." 



