Some remarks on mal-formation of the internal ear, being the result of post-mortem investigations performed in five cases of congenital deafness / By Mr. Edward Cock. Communicated by Dr. Bright.

  • Bright, Richard, 1789-1858
Date:
1835
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Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Some remarks on mal-formation of the internal ear, being the result of post-mortem investigations performed in five cases of congenital deafness / By Mr. Edward Cock. Communicated by Dr. Bright. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    When structures so numerous and diversified, are found assembled within a small portion of bone of compact texture and ivory hardness,—when bones, ligaments, joints, muscles, membranes, secreting tissues, vessels, nerves, and fluids are compressed within so’small a compass,—it may be conceived how much time and labour must be expended, and how many ears must be dissected, before we can gain even a superficial and imperfect knowledge of this organ in its healthy state, and how difficult to appreciate every morbid change, or every congenital mal-forill¬ ation which possibly may occur in its structures. Under these circumstances, it is not surprising that congenital deafness should have been almost uni¬ versally ascribed to paralysis of the auditory nerve, although I believe there is scarcely a case upon re¬ cord in which the nerve has been found altered in its size or texture, unless through the agency of tuber¬ cles, hydatids, or some other cause producing mecha¬ nical pressure or lesion of its substance. Saunders, in his book, “ On the Anatomy and Diseases of the Ear,” gives but one case as affording an explanation of the cause of congenital deafness. In this instance the labyrinth was occupied by a soft cheesy substance, although I think it may be ques¬ tioned whether this was an original formation, or a subsequent deposit of scrofulous matter. Itard, who has published a voluminous work on