Henry Gray (1825–1861). Anatomy of the Human Body. 1918.
pages 1050
| upper and lateral angle of the vestibule, just above the fenestra vestibuli, where it opens close to the ampullated end of the superior canal; its opposite end opens at the upper and back part of the vestibule. The lateral canal of one ear is very nearly in the same plane as that of the other; while the superior canal of one ear is nearly parallel to the posterior canal of the other. |
 |
FIG. 923– The cochlea and vestibule, viewed from above. All the hard parts which form the roof of the internal ear have been removed with the saw. (See enlarged image) |
| The Cochlea (Figs. 922, 923).—The cochlea bears some resemblance to a common snail-shell; it forms the anterior part of the labyrinth, is conical in form, and placed almost horizontally in front of the vestibule; its apex (cupula) is directed forward and lateralward, with a slight inclination downward, toward the upper and front part of the labyrinthic wall of the tympanic cavity; its base corresponds with the bottom of the internal acoustic meatus, and is perforated by numerous apertures for the passage of the cochlear division of the acoustic nerve. It measures about 5 mm. from base to apex, and its breadth across the base is about 9 mm. It consists of a conical shaped central axis, the modiolus; of a canal, the inner wall of which is formed by the central axis, wound spirally around it for two turns and three-quarters, from the base to the apex; and of a delicate lamina, the osseous spiral lamina, which projects from the modiolus, and, following the windings of the canal, partially subdivides it into two. In the recent state a membrane, the basilar membrane, stretches from the free border of this lamina to the outer wall of the bony cochlea and completely separates the canal into two passages, which, however, communicate with each other at the apex of the modiolus by a small opening named the helicotrema. |
| The modiolus is the conical central axis or pillar of the cochlea. Its base is broad, and appears at the bottom of the internal acoustic meatus, where it corresponds with the area cochleæ; it is perforated by numerous orifices, which transmit filaments of the cochlear division of the acoustic nerve; the nerves for the first turn and a half pass through the foramina of the tractus spiralis foraminosus; those for the apical turn, through the foramen centrale. The canals of the tractus spiralis foraminosus pass up through the modiolus and successively bend outward |