Oct. lo, 1878] 



NATURE 



^11 



conveyed to distant parts of the field by a system somewhat 

 similar to the dashes and dots of the Morse telegraphic code." 

 The Nez Perces are described as a particularly fine race and 

 well behaved. Their women are very industrious, and when 

 not engaged in carrying wood and water, &c., "are generally 

 hard at work in the manufacture of beaded mocassins, gauntlets, 

 and Indian doll babies . . . The little boys, too, reap 

 quite a harvest by displaying their skill with the bow and 

 arrow." One of the most curious institutions of the tribe is a 

 primitive description of Turkish bath. "The Missouri River 

 runs close by their encampment, and on the bank of the river 

 they have built what has the appearance of a gigantic ant-hill ; 

 in shape it is similar to a small Esquimaux hut, about six feet in 

 diameter and two or three feet high. There is an aperture on 

 one side just large enough for a man to get through, and in the 

 interior there is just sufficient room for him to lie in a cramped 

 position. They first build a fire outside in which they heat 

 limestones' until almost red-hot. They then shovel them into 

 the hut and poiur water on them so as to produce a dense vapour, 

 after which they quickly rake the stones on, crawl in through 

 the entrance hole which they cover up with a blanket, and lie 

 there until the perspiration streams from every pore, when they 

 come outside and plunge into the Missouri River and swim to 

 the nearest sand-bank." 



The additions to the Zoological Sod'ety's Gardens during the 

 past week include a Mona Monkey {Cercopithecus mono) from 

 West Africa, presented by the Rev. W. N. Ripley ; a Macaque 

 Monkey (Macaciis cynomolgus) from India, presented by the 

 Rev. E. L. Marrett ; a Cape Zorilla (Ictonyx zorilla) from West 

 Africa, presented by Mr. Caiman ; a Laughing Kingfisher 

 (Dacelo gigantea) from Australia, presented by Mr. Delves L. 

 Broughton ; a Red-beaked Weaver-bird (Quelea sanguinirostris) 

 from West Africa, presented by Mr. W. H. Simmonds; a 

 Passerine Owl {Glaucidium fasserinum), European, presented 

 by Miss Turner ; a Sumatran Rhinoceros {Rhinoceros suma. 

 trensis) from Malacca, an Anubis Baboon ( Cyjtocephalus amibis), 

 a Macaque Monkey {Macaciis cynomolgus), a Bonnet Monkey 

 {Macacus radiatus) from India, a Kinkajou {Cercoleptes caudivol- 

 vulus) from South America, deposited ; a Chinchilla {Chinchilla 

 lanigera), born in the Gardens. 



CYON'S RESEARCHES ON THE EAR ^ 

 I. 

 "T^HIS able and elaborate thesis, presented by Dr. de Cyon 

 *■ to the Medical Faculty of Paris, contains a further contri- 

 bution of facts and speculations in reference to the function of 

 the semicircular canals of the internal ear, a subject upon which, 

 as Professor of Physiology in St. Petersburg, he had previously 

 published an important and interesting paper. 



As a knowledge of the form and position of these organs is 

 absolutely necessary to enable the reader to follow a discussion 

 of the theories as to their use, we shall preface this notice of Dr. 

 de Cyon's thesis with a short anatomical statement. 



The system of semicircular canals, which exists in the internal 

 ear of all vertebrates, while differing greatly in size in different 

 animals, is so nearly the same in general arrangement, that a 

 description of it as found in man will be sufficient for our 

 present purpose. 



These organs are lodged in a bony cavity continuous with the 

 cochlea which contains the organ of hearing. The vestibule is 

 an irregular rounded chamber. In its walls are five openings 

 leading to the semicircular canals. These are tunnels in the bone 

 having an elliptical or circular section, and opening at each end 

 into the vestibule. The central line or axis of each canal lies 

 nearly in one plane (which we may call the plane of the canal), 

 and is approximately an arc of a circle. At one end of each 

 canal there is an enlargement called the ampulla. The diagram 

 (Fig. i) represents a section through the axis of one of the canals. 



The planes of the three canals are very nearly at right angles 



^ Recherches exp^rimentales 'sur les Fonctions des Canaux semi-circu- 

 laires et sur leur Role dans la Formation de la Notion de I'Espace, ParElie 

 ds Cyon, M.D., &c., Laureat de I'lnstitut de France, 



to one another. The canals are named from their position — the 

 horizontal, the superior, and the posterior ; the two latter unite 

 at their non-ampullary ends before joining the vestibule, so that 



Section of bony labyrinth showing vestibule and one of the semi-circular 

 canals, v, vestibule ; c c, canal ; a, ampulla. 



there are five, and not six, openings into the vestibule — three 

 ampuUary, one for each canal, and two non-ampullary, one for 

 the horizontal and one common to the superior and posterior 

 canals. 



The plane of the horizontal canal is nearly horizontal in the 

 ordinary position of the head in all animals,^ and is always at 

 right angles to the mesial plane ; the planes of the other two 

 canals make nearly equal angles with the mesial plane. These 

 relations are indicated diagrammatically in the accompanying 

 sketch (Fig. 2), from which, to prevent confusion, the vestibule 

 has been omitted. 



FryTvL 



BcLoh 



Fv^.Z 



Diagram showing the relations of the planes of the three serai-circular 

 canals of the left ear to each other and to the mesial plane, m m, 

 mesial plane ; s, p, h, the planes of the superior, posterior, and 

 horizontal canals respectively. ^_i— ^ 



In the bony labyrinth just described is inclosed a membranous 

 labyrinth, similar in form, and consisting of the utricle, lodged 

 in the vestibule, and of three membranous semicircular canals, 

 each furnished with a membranous ampulla. The membranous 

 labyrinth does not fit tight into its bony case — the utricle is much 

 smaller than the vestibule (which contains, besides, other organs 

 connected with the cochlea), and the diameter of the mem- 

 branous canals is not more than one -fifth of that of the osseous 

 canals. In the ampullae the difference is not nearly so great ; 

 here there is only a narrow space between the bone and the 

 membrane. The entire cavity is thus divided into two spaces, 

 one within and one around the membranous lab)rrinth ; each is 

 filled with a liquid named the endolymph and the perilymph 

 respectively. The external space contains, in addition to the 

 perilymph, connective tissue attaching more or less firmly the 

 membranous canals to the periosteum, and the blood-vessels and 

 nerves which supply the membranous labyrinth. The nerves 

 are distributed to a spot called the macula acustica, in the utricle, 



* In man the plane of the horizontal canal slopes somewhat downwards 

 and backwards, so that it becomes horizontal when the head Is slightly bent 

 forwards. 



