THE NERVES AND NERVE ENDINGS IN THE 

 MEIMBRANA TYMPANI OF MAN 



J. GORDON WILSON 



Department of Otology, Northwestern University Medical School 



SIX FIGURES^ 

 THREE PLATES 



The membrana tympani though recognized by the anatomist 

 to be a structure admirably adapted to play an important part 

 in the mechanism of sound conduction, has not, until recently, 

 received from the neurologist the attention it would appear to 

 merit. At present the description of the nerve distribution in 

 this membrane in mammals, with the exception of man, may be 

 said to be in the main satisfactory. In man the account is not 

 only meagre but lacking in many essential details. It is con- 

 tained in the work of Kessel pubhshed in 1872, when the technic 

 for nerves and nerve endings was less satisfactory than it now is. 

 So far as I know, excepting a drawing by Kessel, believed both 

 by Jacques and myself to be inaccurate, there have not appeared 

 any illustrations of the nerve distribution. It is difficult to ac- 

 count for this indifference. While it may be due in some small 

 measure to a lack of appreciation of the importance of this mem- 

 brane, it is mainly to be accounted for by the difficulty of the 

 technic inherent in its structure. In a former paper ('07 a) I 

 described the mode of distribution and the varieties of endings 

 found in the membrana tympani of the rabbit, dog, cat and 

 monkey; in this paper I propose to extend these investigations to 

 the membrana tympani of man. 



1 The drawings have been made by Herr R. Schilling of Freiburg, and Miss 

 Hill of the University of Chicago, to whom I wish to express my sincere thanks. 



THE AMERICAN JOURNAL JF ANATOMY, VOL,. 11, NO. 2 

 JANUARY, 1911 



