﻿THE 
  MIDDLE 
  EAR 
  AND 
  COLUMELLA 
  OF 
  BIEDS. 
  11 
  

  

  The 
  Middle 
  Ear 
  and 
  Columella 
  of 
  Birds. 
  

  

  By 
  

   Oeofirey 
  Siiiitli, 
  B.A., 
  

  

  New 
  College, 
  Oxford. 
  

  

  It 
  may 
  seem 
  a 
  supererogatory 
  task 
  to 
  add 
  to 
  the 
  pile 
  of 
  

   literature 
  whicli 
  deals 
  with 
  the 
  ear-boue 
  homologies 
  a 
  straight- 
  

   forward 
  account 
  of 
  those 
  anatomical 
  and 
  embryological 
  facts 
  

   which 
  maybe 
  ascertained 
  by 
  the 
  examination 
  of 
  such 
  familiar 
  

   types 
  as 
  the 
  fowl 
  and 
  pigeon; 
  but 
  after 
  a 
  painstaking 
  research 
  

   into 
  the 
  literature 
  of 
  the 
  Sauropsidan 
  middle 
  ear 
  I 
  have 
  

   unwillingly 
  concluded 
  that 
  such 
  a 
  course 
  was 
  desirable. 
  

   Although 
  this 
  literature 
  is 
  voluminous 
  there 
  is 
  no 
  single 
  

   description 
  of 
  any 
  Sauropsidan 
  type 
  which 
  from 
  a 
  modern 
  

   standpoint 
  can 
  be 
  considered 
  at 
  all 
  complete; 
  that 
  is 
  to 
  say^ 
  

   there 
  is 
  uo 
  account 
  which 
  describes 
  in 
  any 
  one 
  type 
  — 
  

  

  1. 
  The 
  development 
  and 
  transformation 
  of 
  the 
  auditory 
  

   ossicles 
  from 
  the 
  earliest 
  procartilage 
  stage 
  up- 
  

   wards; 
  

  

  2. 
  The 
  relations 
  of 
  the 
  seventh 
  nerve 
  and 
  chorda 
  tympani 
  

   to 
  the 
  ossicles 
  at 
  different 
  stages 
  of 
  development. 
  

  

  The 
  words 
  in 
  italics 
  are 
  emphasised 
  because 
  a 
  large 
  part 
  

   of 
  the 
  work 
  on 
  this 
  subject 
  fails 
  to 
  be 
  conclusive 
  owing 
  to 
  the 
  

   lack 
  of 
  sufficiently 
  early 
  stages 
  of 
  development, 
  and 
  this 
  most 
  

   unfortunately 
  is 
  the 
  case 
  in 
  the 
  recent 
  descriptions 
  of 
  

   Sphenodon 
  by 
  Howes 
  (14) 
  and 
  Schauiuslaud 
  (12). 
  Kingsley 
  

   (13) 
  gives 
  one 
  isolated 
  procartilage 
  stage 
  in 
  a 
  Lacertiliau 
  ; 
  

  

  