The Anatomy and physiology of the organ of hearing : with remarks on congenital deafness, the diseases of the ear, some imperfections of the organ of speech, and the proper treatment of these several affections / By David Tod.

  • Tod, David.
Date:
1832
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Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The Anatomy and physiology of the organ of hearing : with remarks on congenital deafness, the diseases of the ear, some imperfections of the organ of speech, and the proper treatment of these several affections / By David Tod. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Leeds Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Leeds Library.

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    provement^ however, does not appear to arise from the completion of parts hitherto imperfectly formed, but from the actions which have been excited in the vascular system of the organ, arousing its sensibility, and perhaps also effecting the removal of all adventitious membranes or substances existing in the Cavitas Tympani,—such as the thick layer which forms the superficial covering of the cavity, and which we have described as a portion of the common integuments. In the employment of ammonia to the surface of the Meatus, or Cavitas Tympani, we may further observe, that the actions which it produces are, in general, not of a very durable nature ; for we frequently find the acuteness in the hearing which may have been produced, soon begin gradu- ally to subside, unless the inflammatory process is occa- sionally excited by a fresh application. In using ammonia, some caution is also requisite; for when its strength is too great, or it is employed in too large a quantity, it will soon cause extensive suppuration, and, of course, speedily de- stroy a number of textures, some of which may be of con- siderable importance ; and thus produce a greater degree of deafness than had previously existed, unless the repro- ductive process is subsequently excited. In scrofulous constitutions it is very apt to excite gangrene. With respect to the second remedy of a local nature which we have mentioned, viz. aether, we may observe, that it is in importance next to ammonia; and although it has been more frequently employed in the treatment of occasional deafness than in congenital cases, it is never- theless often capable of proving very beneficial in the latter. In every case in which I have given it a trial, I discovered that the patient could be made to hear sounds of a kind which he could not hear before. In all cases of deafness arising from any morbific action in the structures of the Tympanum, or of the Eustachian Tubes, or of the Meatus Externus,—such as a privation of the ceruminous secretion,—however, it is a remedy more decidedly useful. Although less powerful than ammonia, aether is still