188 THE AUDITORY NERVE AND COCHLEA, BY W. WALDEYER. 



been apparently surpassed in the examination of this difficult object 

 by that distinguished inquirer. The explanation of the external hair 

 cells given by Gottstein, and here reproduced, differs from that of 

 Deiters in the circumstance that the latter admits the presence of two 

 completely distinct cell forms, which are only connected with each other 

 by thin processes in the external slope of the organ of Corti. One of 

 them bearing hairs (the " rod cells, "Stabchenzelle, of Deiters) is directly 

 continuous with the basilar process (" connecting-stalk, "verbindungstiel, 

 of Deiters) and is firmly inserted into the rings of the lamina reticu- 

 laris. Between the rod cells are found also quite independent fusiform 

 cells ("hair cells" of Deiters ; "Deiters' cells " of Kolliker, 80) the upper 

 process of which is continuous with a phalanx, and the lower with 

 the connecting stalk of a rod cell. With Gottstein, I am unable to 

 recognize the fusiform cells of Deiters as perfectly distinct structures 

 from the hair cells ; in particular the semi-diagrammatic representa- 

 tions contained in the manuals of Kolliker and Frey (fig. 512, for 

 example, and fig. 571) are by no means well adapted to give a correct 

 representation of the true relations of these parts. I always found 

 that each pair of conical cells are united to form a double body. The so- 

 called " cells of Deiters " of authors may be compared morphologically 

 with Hasse's tooth cells of the Bird (see lac. cit. 21, Taf. 27, fig. 8), 

 but are here fused in a peculiar manner with the hair cells. 



The differences between authors are most numerous in their 

 descriptions of the relations of the cochlear nerves; for there is 

 scarcely any conceivable mode of nerve termination that has not been 

 discovered here. Apart from the terminal loops of R. Wagner and 

 Harliss (17), and of the passage of all, or at least of several, nerve fasci- 

 culi over the tympanal surface of the membrana basilaris (Corti (10), 

 Bottcher (2), Max Schultze (50), Deiters (13)), views that would not 

 probably receive the support of those by whom they were advanced, 

 all observers now hold the correctness of the statements made by 

 Kolliker (33) and Max Schultze (50), to the effect that the nerve 

 fibres enter into the ductus cochlearis through foramina of the mem- 

 brana basilaris, and there run either exclusively in a radial direction 

 (Rosenberg (49), Bottcher (30),Middendorp (40)), or in a radiating as 

 well as in a spiral direction (Max Schultze (50), Kolliker (30), Deiters 

 (13), Hensen (27), Lowenberg (39) ). All observers are thus in ac- 

 cord in respect to the existence of radiating nerve fibres. Never- 

 theless only a few positive statements corroborated by drawings exist 

 in regard to their mode of termination, and these alone can be here 

 taken into consideration, since it is impossible to mention all the 

 opinions unsupported by facts by Bottcher, Rosenberg, Middendorp, 



