THE AUDITORY APPARATUS 129 



in the total resistance of the circuit must also cause an 

 alteration in the current strength in the circuit, because 

 by Ohms' law, C = f , where C = current, E, electro- 

 motive force and R, resistance. 



In this case the electro-motive force does not vary, 

 momentarily^ for it is maintained by the blood supply, 

 and therefore it is clearly the current that is variable with 

 resistance, and it follows that with that variation more or 

 less current must jflow through the transmitter and receivers. 



Let us assume that the 16,500 hair-cells, or Leyden jars, 

 sufficiently represent every possible variation of sound 

 intended to reach the human brain. 



What would be the effect of rapid alterations of the total 

 resistance of the circuit upon the organ of Corti ? The 

 hair-cells, or some of them, would discharge, or partly 

 discharge, through their antennae, recharge, and discharge 

 again in, perhaps fractions of a second. And each discharge 

 would, by reason of the distribution of the hairs, be in the 

 form of waves, and those waves could only be communicated 

 to the fibres of the cochlear nerve, and, by way of that nerve, 

 to the receiving organ or organs of the brain. 



Moreover, the fixed electrostatic capacity of the hair-cells 

 would tend to regulate and correct neuro-electrical vibra- 

 tion and so bring about a finer appreciation of sound 

 differences, while, as electricity concentrates upon points 

 and projections the hairs themselves might well serve to 

 bring about any required degree of intensification. 



Taking cognisance of the labyrinth as a whole we see 

 that throughout its ramifications the perilymph must induc- 

 tively influence the endolymph, but two facts are very 

 noticeable, i.e., (1) that in the only part which is really 

 spiral — ^the cochlea — the perilymph, or, as I suggest, the 

 primary winding, is greatly in excess of the endoljnnph, or 

 secondary winding as regards sectional area, while nerve- 

 current in maximum quantity is suppHed to the inducting 

 body, the perilymph, as would obtain in electrical practice ; 

 and (2) that in the other part of the labyrinth — the utricle 

 and semi-circular canals — where the distribution of the 

 two fluids appears to be about even, a separate nerve receives 



