MECHANICS OF THE INNER EAR 



29 



figures are not pictures of existing things but merely symbols 

 of a function, that is, of the time when any point of the par- 

 tition is jerked up or down. The construction of the figure 

 is based on the following considerations. Let us mark on the 

 paper the points indicating the time when any given point 

 of the partition is jerked. When we shall have marked a 

 sufficient number of such points, we shall draw a curve 

 through them. But how do we find the points? The move- 

 ment of the stirrup is represented in figure 8. When the stir- 

 rup has its extreme position to the left (according to Fig. 



Fig. 10. Graph of the times when each point of the partition is jerked down 

 (curves of odd numbers) and up (curves of even numbers). Compare figure S 



9) and just begins to move inwards, we mark the time as 

 zero and the point of the partition which is jerked down also 

 as zero, since the point which is jerked is the point nearest 

 the windows. In figure 10 we find this point near a. As the 

 time advances (Fig. 8) the stirrup moves farther and farther 

 inwards, with gradually increasing and later again decreas- 

 ing velocity. A further point, say b, in figure 10 must be 

 located somewhat to the right of a and above a, since a 

 more distant point of the partition is represented by a higher 

 position of the mark in our system of coordinates, and the 



