AUTHOR S ABSTRACT OF THIS PAPER ISSUED 

 BY THE BIBLIOGRAPHIC SERVICE, APRIL 7 



THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE PILLAR CELLS, 

 TUNNEL SPACE, AND NUEL'S SPACES IN 

 THE ORGAN OF CORTI 



O. VAN DER STRICHT 



Department of Anatomy, Johns Hopkins Medical School, Baltimore, Maryland 



EIGHTEEN FIGURES 



CONTENTS 



Introduction. 283 



Descriptive '. 287 



Appearance of the tunnel space 287 



Development of the heads and cephalic appendages of the pillar cells. . 291 



Outer pillars 292 



Inner pillars 295 



Structure of the heads of the inner and outer pillars in adult animals. . 298 



The development of the spaces of Nuel 300 



Appearance of the first spiral space of Nuel 301 



Structure and transformation undergone by the phalanx processes of 



the outer pillars 302 



Development of the second, third, and fourth spaces of Nuel 305 



Summary 309 



Bibliography 313 



Description of plates 315 



INTRODUCTION 



In spite of numerous thorough and exliaustive investigations 

 concerning the earhest stages of development of the organ of 

 Corti, our knowledge of the origin of the tunnel space is still 

 very limited and vague. This is true also of the formation of 

 the heads and cephalic appendages of the pillar cells, and almost 

 nothing is known concerning the origin of the so-called spaces of 

 Nuel. This observer (78) described in the organ of Corti in 

 adult mammals a system of intercellular channels, and his 

 findings have been confirmed by Retzius ('84) and other more 

 recent authors. These spaces or channels are situated between 



283 



