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Fish have a pair of beautiful translucent stones in their heads the ear-stones or otoliths by the laminated structure of which we can now determine the age of a fish just as a tree's age is told by the annual rings of growth in the wood of its stem.
The auscultory organ of most of the Invertebrates has substantially the same composition. It usually consists of a closed vesicle, filled with fluid, and containing otoliths, with the acoustic nerve expanding on its wall. But, while the auditory vesicle is usually of a simple round or oval shape in the Invertebrates, it has in the Vertebrates a special and curious structure, the labyrinth.
The membranous bag itself contains a similar fluid, the endolymph. In this fluid are found some minute crystals of lime like tiny particles of sand, called otoliths, or ear-stones. Every movement of the fluid itself throws these grains from side to side. Bony internal Ear of Right Side.
There are also some curious little stones called otoliths, lying in some parts of this fluid, and they, by their rolling to and fro, probably keep up the motion and prolong the sound. Is not this wonderful, going on as it does at every sound you hear?
Sometimes artificial otoliths are produced by the insufflation of various powders which become agglutinated, and are veritable foreign bodies. Holman tells of a negro, aged thirty-five, whose wife poured molten pewter in his ear while asleep. It was removed, but total deafness was the result.
The irregular bones of the pelvis, unnamed on account of their non-resemblance to any known object. Minute crystals of lime in the vestibule of the ear; also known as otoliths. The roof of the mouth, consisting of the hard and soft palate. A violent and irregular beating of the heart. Papilla. The small elevations found on the skin and mucous membranes.
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