June 1, 1883. | 



SCIENCE. 



475 



be used, as required, in connection with any 

 other language emijloj-ing the Roman alphabet. 

 For example : the sign of nasalitj' in Visible 

 speech is | ; and this character might very 

 convenientlj- replace the n and m used in 

 French, as in ' bon,' ^ temps,' ' enfin^' etc. The 

 peculiar sounds of ch, g, and lo, in German, as 

 in ' nacJi,' ' ich,' ' ange,' ' wie,' etc., have very 

 simple representatives in the phj'siological al- 

 phabet, which might, with great benefit, be 

 adopted in the Romanic writing of German. 

 The following illustrations exemplify these 

 suggested improvements in French and Ger- 

 man phonetic writing : — 



bos, tes, esfis, nac, io, auee, 3ie. 



boD, temps, enfin, nacb, ich, auge, wie. 



The alphabet that expresses the speech of 

 America, England, France, Italy, and Spain, 

 is a wonderfullj' imperfect instrument ; but it 

 is more imperfect in relation to the sounds for 

 which it is used in America and England than 

 in the other countries. Common sense revolts 

 at the unnecessary difficulties imposed on the 

 young by those who have got over the diffi- 

 culties for themselves ; for it must be acknowl- 

 edged that the efforts of spelling-reformers 

 have been resisted on no better ground than 

 that of conservatism of error and defect, be- 

 cause established. Orthography has been con- 

 siderably modified for local uses in Spain, and, 

 to a more limited extent, in France. To the 

 English-speaking races remains the task of 

 effecting greater modifications to remove not 

 only local, but international difficulties. For 

 this purpose the alphabet itself must be re- 

 formed. This paper shows how such a reform 

 could most hopefully be commenced. But 

 whj' not have two alphabets ? The new letters, 

 being purely phonetic, would be a key to old 

 letters, not only in English, but universally ; 

 and then the venerated orthography of oui- 

 literature might remain undisturbed. 



Alex. Melville Bell. 



A STUDY OF THE HUMAN TEMPORAL 

 BONE. ^11.^ 



The labyrinth is a complex receptacle of the 

 internal ear, embedded within the petrosa, with 

 its long axis parallel with this, and occupying 

 a position intermediate to the tympanum and 

 the internal auditorj' meatus. Its cavity is 

 enclosed with compact walls for the most part 

 not distinctlj' differentiated from the rest of 

 the petrosa. It consists of three portions, 

 named the vestibule, the semicircular canals, 

 and the cochlea. 



1 Continued from No. 14. 



The vestibule is an irregularly ovoidal cavity 

 situated between the tympanum and the inter- 

 nal auditory meatus, communicating with the 

 cochlea forward and inward, and the semi- 

 circular canals backward and outward. In its 

 outer wall is the oval window, opening into 

 the tj'mpanum, but closed in the complete con- 

 dition by the base of the stirrup. At the fore- 

 part of its inner wall is a circular concavity, 

 the hemispherical fossa,^ at the bottom of 

 which is a little group of minute foramina 

 named the middle cribriform macula. The 

 fossa is defined bj' an acute margin, which 

 expands at the roof of the vestibule in a low 

 pyramidal eminence. This is perforated by 

 a group of minute foramina, the superior 

 cribriform macula. On the roof of the ves- 

 tibule, outwardly and behind the fossa indi- 

 cated, is another less defined, named the 

 hemielliptical fossa.'^ At the lower part of 

 this is the aperture of the fine venous canal,' 

 which communicates with the cleft on the 

 posterior surface of the petrosa. Below the 

 oval window is the cochlear fossa ■,'^ which, in 

 the prepared bone, communicates freely with 

 the cochlea, but, in the recent state, opens only 

 at its fore-part into the vestibular passage 

 of the same. Externally, above and behind 

 the hemielliptical fossa, the semicircular canals 

 communicate with the vestibule. 



The semicircular canals are three horseshoe- 

 shaped tubes, traversing the compact sub- 

 stance of the petrosa outwardly from the ves- 

 tibule, with which they communicate by five 

 apertures. They are compressed, cylindrical, 

 and each has one end expanded in a pyriform 

 dilatation named the ampulla. The posterior 

 canal^ is longest, is directed vertically out- 

 ward, and extends lowest; the superior canal 

 is directed vertically fore and aft, extends 

 highest, and produces the conspicuous promi- 

 nence on the front surface of the petrosa ; 

 and the external canal^ is shortest, and is 

 directed horizontally outward on a level with 

 the ends of the superior canal, and the middle 

 of the posterior canal. The ampullae of the 

 superior and external canals occupy their fore- 

 ends, are contiguous, and open into the ves- 

 tibule above the oval window. The ampulla 

 of the posterior canal occupies its lower end, 

 and opens into the lower back part of the ves- 

 tibule. The hind-end of the superior canal, 

 and the upper end of the posterior canal, con- 

 join in a common canal, which opens into the 

 upper back part of the vestibule ; and the hind- 



1 Fossa hemispherica, recessus 6 _ 



2 Fossa bemielliptica, recessua eflipticus. 



3 Aqueduct of the vestibule. ■i Recessus cocblearis. 

 5 Internal or inferior. " Median, borizontal, least. 



