114 Irving Hardesty 



vestibular wall and membrane had been carefuly removed was it found 

 advisable to touch the tectorial membrane. This, in the meantime, 

 could be seen, parts waving upward and downward with the agitations 

 in the water about it, parts floating entirely free, and, at times, parts 

 more firmly held in place. These more stationary portions were after- 

 ward found to be small areas adhering to the organ of Corti due to the 

 coagulative action of the fixing fluid, probably upon the albrmiens and 

 mucoids in the intervening endolymph. 



The action of the fixing fluid results in a decrease to some extent of 

 that remarkable adhesiveness displayed by the fresh tectorial membrane 

 and also renders it somewhat less flexible, but, .even after fixation it is 

 so very sensitive to touch with the needles and to currents in the fluid 

 about it that Reissner's and the basilar membrane appear as boards 

 compared with a strip of thin silk. Fortunately, in the fixed condition, 

 it comes away quite freely from its attachment upon the labium vesti- 

 bulare ("Huschke's teeth") of the limbus spiralis. Wlien* ready to 

 remove the membrane the water in the dish was drawn ofi: and replaced 

 with clean to avoid the debris resulting from the teasing. Agitations 

 of the water and occasionally lifting it lightly with the needle where 

 it appeared most firmly attached were found sufficient to detach it. It 

 was best removed from the cochlea to the floor of the dish by the gentle 

 use of a small pipette, washing it from around the coil and over the 

 torn edges of the cochlear wall, occasionally guiding it with a needle. 

 This removal proved the most trying part of the whole process in 

 attempts to obtain the membrane in its entirety. It must not he 

 allowed to adhere to structures over which it passes, it must not be 

 straightened too much from its natural coil, and, above all, it must 

 not be allowed to double upon itself lest it cohere and the entire region 

 so doing be spoiled. 



Orientation of the entire meml)rane, or of large pieces, was not 

 found difficult, from the fact that one becomes familiar with its differ- 

 ences of width while working with it, and, it being in the form of a coil, 

 it does not turn over readily or may be easily seen when doing so. 



AYhen washed out into the dish, the tectorial membrane remains for 

 a time suspended in the water, and one has to watch it and quietly 

 wait for it to settle to the bottom. In settling, it will return, to a 

 certain extent, to its original coiled form. 



Membranes thus obtained were stranded upon clean slides and some 

 were mounted, unstained, in glycerine and in glycerine jelly, while 



