378 THE SPECIAL SENSES. 



brane are conveyed to the hair cells and through them to the nerve 

 fibers is a matter of speculation only, as are also the functions of the 

 remaining parts of the organ of Corti. It may be suggested, 

 perhaps, that the rods of Corti and Deiters's cells, together with 

 the reticulate membrane, with which they are both connected, 

 form not only a supporting apparatus for the hair cells, but also 

 a mechanism by which the vibrations of the strings are commu- 

 nicated to the hairs of the hair cells ; but the suggestion is unsatis- 

 factory, as the anatomical arrangement does not suffice to explain 

 how the vibrations of individual strings are transmitted to the 

 separate hair cells. The assumption has also been made that 

 the tectorial membrane acts as a damper to the vibrating hair cells 

 or the reticulate membrane. Its position as a pad lying over the 

 rods of Corti and the reticulate membrane justifies perhaps such an 

 assumption. Many physiologists, while accepting the general 

 principle that the cochlea analyzes the sound waves by a mechan- 

 ism for sympathetic vibrations, have been unwilling to admit 

 that the basilar membrane constitutes such a mechanism. They 

 point to the improbability or impossibility of fibers of only 0.36 

 mm. (or 0.5 mm. at the best) in length acting as efficient reso- 

 nators, especially as they are not entirely free and are surrounded 

 by liquid. Attempts have been made, therefore, to select other 

 structures in the cochlea as more likely to be affected by sympa- 

 thetic vibrations. Attention has been directed mainly to the 

 tectorial membrane or membrane of Corti. Thus, Ayers* believes 

 that this structure as seen in the usual microscopical prepara- 

 tions, is simply an artefact. Under normal conditions he believes 

 that it is a band of very long and delicate hairs projecting from the 

 hair cells and lying free in the endolymph. According to his 

 view, it is these hairs that take up the vibrations and transmit their 

 impulses directly to the hair cells. The histological statement upon 

 which this view is based has not, however, been verified. More 

 recently v. Ebner,f reviving an older view of Hasse, has suggested 

 that the tectorial membrane, especially its free end, serves as the 

 mechanism for sympathetic vibration. This membrane increases 

 in width from the base to the apex of the cochlea and varies in 

 thickness in its radial diameter, so that it might be conceived to 

 respond to different periods of vibrations in its different parts, 

 its movements being communicated directly to the hair cells upon 

 which it rests. Unfortunately we have no direct experimental 

 evidence in favor of any of these views. Several observers, how- 

 ever, have demonstrated apparently that, whatever may be the 



* Ayers, " Journal of Morphology," 6, 1, 1892. 



f Kolliker, " Handbuch d. Gewebelehre," sixth edition, vol. iii, pt. 11, 

 p. 958, 1902. 



