words. In Slavic languages it often coalesces with I, forming a sort of consonant; thus, jest (pronounced yest), Lat. est; nie, Lat. ne, non. E frequently occurs instead of I in ancient Roman memorials, as, for instance, on the columna rostrata of Duilius, on the tomb of the Scipios, and in the works of writers; thus, sebe, quase, maeester, fuet, for sibi, quasi, magister, fuit. In the Slavonic it occupies, as jest, the 6th place of the Bukvitsa as well as of the Cyrillic scheme, and has two softening forms as finals (-er, -eri) toward the close of the alphabet.-We give a promiscuous list of the substitutions or metaphonies of E, long and short, in different languages, resulting from glossic, dialectic, grammatic, euphonic, and other exigencies: треπw, τραπον, τροπος ; λεγω, λόγος ; νεος, ovus; πληγή, plaga; marηp, Evnатwр; Eixedos, Siculus; vedos, nubes; kepas, cornu; ago, egi; frango, fregi; facio, feci, efficio, fingo, fungor; pars, expers; bonus, bene; velle, volo, vis, vult; castus, incestus; cos, vester; sero, satus, Eng. sown, son; verto, vortex, adversus, Eng. toward; vermis, worm; audio, obedio; arista, Germ. Aehre, Eng. ear (of corn); fallo, fefelli; halo, anhelo; tego, toga; percello, perculi; vas, Eng. vessel, Fr. vaisseau; pes, Eng, foot, feet, fetter, Fr. pied; Anglia, England, Ital. Inghilterra; Cornelia, Ital. Corniglia; urbs vetus, Ital. Orvieto; decem, Ital. dieci; sequitur, Span. sigue; mecum, Span. conmigo; deus, Span. dios; nego, Span. niego; brevis, Prov. brieu; petra, Wal. peatre; sensus, Portug. siso; cera, ecclesia, racemus, ego, neptis, Fr. (respectively) cire, église, raisin, je, nièce; bene, mel, Fr. bien, miel; mensis, me, Fr. mois, moi; Eng. apple, Iceland. epli; aper, Germ. Eber, Eng. boar; Eng. man, men, to mean, mind; sell, sale, sold; enquire, inquire; fed, fat, feed, food; shed, shut; set, sit, sat, seat, site, sod; Fr. venir, viens, vint; Germ. werden, ward, wäre, wird, wurde, würde, geworden. The figure of E is supposed by the abbé Moussard to be the base of the nose, n, its sound being symbolic of breathing, and hence of life. It has this or a similar shape in Phoenician, Hebrew, Samaritan, the ancient Italic alphabets, Idalian (Cyprian), and in their derivative systems. Court de Gébelin derives its form from the outline of the human face, which is a symbol, according to him, of the idea of existence. Dammartin pretends to have found its prototype for all graphic systems, including even the Chinese, in the southern triangle, and the bow of the constellation of the archer. It is represented by the Stungen Ies (Stung or pointed I) of the runic writing; its hieroglyphs are palm leaves or long feathers; the hieratic figure of it is a sort of tetragonal convolute, and the demotic is sickle-like.-Barrois asserts that E signifies one, since it is the initial of the Greek is. As an abbreviation, E. stands for Ennius, eques Romanus, egregius, emeritus, ergo, editio, east, electricity, and excellence. The letters d. e. r. stand for de ea re; q. e. d. for quod erat demonstrandum; e. g. and e. c. for exempli gratiâ and exempli causa. In syllogisms, A= asserit, VOL. VI.-45

E = negat. On French coins it designates Tours; on those of Austria, Carlsburg in Transylvania; on those of Prussia, Königsberg. In Greek, E has the value of 5, and with a mark below it, of 5,000. According to Baronius, it represented the number 250 in the period of the decline of classic literature.-In music, it denotes the 3d great interval in modern musical nomenclature, or the 5th string in the chromatic scale, and is called mi in vocal music.

EACHARD, JOHN, an English divine, born in Suffolk in 1636, died July 7, 1697. He studied and took his degree at the university of Cambridge, and became known by his satires against the clergymen of his time, making the sermons of his own father sometimes serve to give point to his ridicule. After becoming a clergyman himself, he wrote upon the "Grounds and Occasions of the Contempt of the Clergy and Religion," which he attributed to the insufficient salaries of clergymen, and the consequent necessity for them to eke out a living by unbecoming means. The work passed rapidly through 6 editions, and drew down upon its author abundant criticisms. He published 2 dialogues upon Mr. Hobbes's "State of Nature," in which he attacked the ideas of that philosopher in a humorous and vigorous way. An edition of his works, with a life, was published in 1714, and it is remarked by Warton that his writings must have been diligently studied by Swift.

EADMER, or EDMER, an English monk, the friend and biographer of Saint Anselm, died in 1124. He was chosen in 1120 bishop of St. Andrew's, in Scotland, but the Scottish king refusing to allow his consecration by the archbishop of Canterbury, and thus to admit the primacy of that see, he either declined the bishopric or abdicated it after a short possession, and died as a monk of Canterbury. Beside his life of Saint Anselm, contained in most of the editions of Anselm's works, he wrote the lives of Wilfred, Dunstan, and other English saints, a treatise on the "Excellence of the Holy Virgin," and on the "Four Virtues which were in Mary;" but his most valuable work is the "History of his own Times," an account of the principal events that happened in England and in the English church from 1066 to 1122 (best edition by Selden, 1623).

EAGLE, a bird of prey, of the order accipitres, family falconida, and subfamily aquilina. The eagles have a strong bill, elevated at the culmen, straight at the base, and much arched to the tip, which is hooked and sharp; the sides are compressed, and the lateral margins festooned; the nostrils are in the cere, large; the wings are long and acute, the 3d, 4th, and 5th quills usually the longest; the tail is long, ample, mostly rounded at the end; the tarsi are long, either clothed with feathers to the base of the toes as in the golden eagle, or naked and covered with scales as in the bald eagle; the toes are long, strong, armed with large, curved, and sharp claws. In the type genus aquila (Mehr.) belongs the golden eagle of Europe and America (A. chrysaetos, Linn.). The length of this magnificent

bird is about 3 feet 2 inches, the extent of wings 7 feet, the bill along the back 24 inches, the tarsus 4 inches, and the middle toe and claw the same; the bill is very robust, angular above; the head is moderate, the neck short, and the body full; the tarsi are feathered to the toes, and the feet are very stout; the middle toe has a membrane at the base connecting it with the others. The above dimensions are those of an adult female, the male being considerably smaller, in conformity with the rule that in birds of prey the females are larger than the males. The plumage is compact, imbricated, and glossy; the feathers of the neck and head are narrow and pointed, and may be erected like a short crest; the tail consists of 12 broad feathers. In the adult the bill is black at the tip, bluish gray at the base, the cere and margins yellow; iris chestnut; toes bright yellow, claws black; general color of the plumage dark brown, glossed with purple; the hind head and neck light brownish yellow, the feathers with dark shafts; the wing coverts light brown; primaries brownish black; tail rounded, dark brown, lighter at the base, irregularly marked with whitish; lower tail coverts, feathers of legs and tarsi, yellowish brown. The immature bird is of a deep brown color, with the tail white at the base for of its length, and dark at the end; this is the ringtailed eagle of Wilson and others; the adult, from its majestic appearance, is called in Europe the royal eagle; the American species is considered distinct by some, and is called A. Canadensis (Linn.). The golden eagle is rarely seen in the eastern portion of the United States, though specimens have been obtained in all the northern states; a few years since a young bird was shot in Lexington, Mass.; the species is most common in the north-west, on the upper Mississippi, and in the mountainous regions of the country; it is also found in the cold and mountainous districts of northern Europe and Asia. The flight is powerful, though less rapid than that of the bald eagle, being continued for hours in majestic circles at a great elevation, and without apparent exertion; its prey is not seized on the wing, but is pounced upon on the ground from a great height with rarely failing precision. Its food consists of young fawns, raccoons, hares, wild turkeys, and birds and animals of similar size, and, when hard pressed by hunger, of carrion; capable of going several days without food, it gorges itself when opportunity offers. Its strength is great, and its weight about 12 lbs.; it is able to withstand extreme cold, and pursues its prey in the most violent storms. The voice is harsh and screaming, and very loud at the breeding season. The plumage does not attain its full beauty until the 4th year; the American Indians are fond of using the tail feathers as ornaments for their persons, pipes, and weapons. The nest is of large size, consisting of a rude collection of sticks, and placed on some inaccessible cliff; the eggs are generally 2, of a dull white color, with brownish shades, 3 inches long and 24 in diam

eter at the widest part; they are laid in February or March; the young, when able to provide for themselves, are driven from the eyry by their parents. This bird is long-lived, individuals, it is said, having been kept in captivity for more than a century. Though the eagle holds among the feathered race a position equivalent to that of the lion among beasts, being king of birds as the latter is the monarch of mammals, he belongs to the section of the ignoble birds of prey, which cannot be employed in the noble sport of falconry; in proportion to their size, the eagles are less courageous, and less powerful in beak, wings, and talons, than the falcons. The noble nature of the eagle, like that of the lion, is mostly a creation of the imagination, founded on external characters which have no corresponding internal qualities; he follows the instinct of his carnivorous nature, without regard to surrounding weaker animals, attacking where he is sure of victory, gorging himself like a glutton, patiently bearing forced abstinence from food, and at last soiling his royal beak with the foulness of carrion; the king-bird and the shrike are far his superiors in bravery, and all the qualities which have been specially assumed for him can be found in greater perfection in many common birds, beside many of the softer traits of character which find no place in his royal constitution; like most other kings, he has his superiors in many of the lowest of his subjects. The eagle is monogamous, and the mated pair are generally not far from each other; the same nest is used for many successive years. The scent of the eagle is feeble, but his sight is exceedingly keen; able to gaze at the sun at noonday, and rising toward it until beyond human sight, he can detect in the plains below his living prey. Like the condor, the eagle has been accused of carrying off little children to its nest, but such instances in both birds must be very rare, though doubtless they may have occurred. Another species of this genus is the spotted or rough-footed eagle (A. nævia, Gmel.), smaller than the golden, of a brownish color, with black white-tipped tail, and wings yellow spotted; it is found in the mountains of central and southern Europe and northern Africa, and preys upon the smaller animals. In the genus haliaetus (Sav.) belong the fishing or sea eagles, the best known and largest of which is the bald or whiteheaded eagle (H. leucocephalus, Linn.); the bill is 24 inches long, very robust, convex above; the head is large, and flat above; neck short and thick; body large, wings long, and tail rounded; the tarsus only 3 inches long, bare for its lower two-thirds and covered with large scales; the feet are short and robust, and the toes are free, rough, and tuberculous beneath, with very sharp curved claws. The plumage is compact and imbricated; the feathers of the head, neck, and breast are narrow and pointed, and of the other parts broad and rounded; there is a bare space between the bill and eye with a few bristly feathers; the eyebrows are bare and very prominent. In the adult the bill, cere, iris,

and feet are yellow, the first 8 being often almost white; the general color of the plumage is chocolate-brown, the feathers with paler margins; the head, greater part of neck, tail and its coverts, white; the quills are brownish black, with lighter shafts. The length is about 8 feet, and the extent of wings 7 feet; the female is somewhat larger. In the young bird the bill is black above, bluish gray at the end of the lower mandible; the feathers, which are white in the adult, are dark brown like the rest of the plumage, margined with lighter; the head and tail become white between the 3d and 10th year, according to circumstances of locality and captivity. It is very generally distributed over North America, on the sea-coast and in the interior; it has been found breeding from the fur countries to Florida. Its usual food is fish, which it procures easily, and for seizing and retaining which its sharp curved claws and rough feet are admirably adapted; but it eats the flesh of animals when it can get it, and often seizes small quadrupeds and birds of inferior flight; it has been accused of attacking children, and when pressed by hunger will feed on decaying carcasses. Strong, powerful in flight, free and independent in its habits, and noble in aspect, the bald eagle has been adopted as the emblem of the United States. Audubon, in his "Ornithological Biography" (vol. i. p. 161), gives a graphic description of the capture of a wild swan by the bald eagle; water fowl of smaller size are also taken by these birds hunting in company, and alternately pouncing upon the prey as it emerges from the water; young pigs, lambs, fawns, and poultry are greedily devoured; and the disgusting food of the vultures and carrion crows is often shared with this eagle, This representative of American prowess, though occasionally catching fish for himself, forces the fish hawk to obtain his favorite food for him in the following manner when the fish hawk follows the shoals of fish in the rivers in spring, the eagle sits watching from the top of a tall tree; as soon as the former rises with a fish, and bends his course for the shore to devour it, the latter mounts above him, and by most unmistakable signs forces him to give up his prey to save his own life; the eagle closes his wings, drops down with great quickness, and seizes the fish before it reaches the water; and this marauding and mean career the eagle pursues till the migrations of the fish cease, and the fish hawks depart. The flight of this bird is very majestic, accomplished by easy flappings; it sails along with extended wings, and, according to Audubon, can ascend until it disappears from view, without any apparent motion of the wings or tail; and from the greatest heights it descends with a rapidity which cannot be followed by the eye. All authors are agreed as to the cowardice of the eagle when it is suddenly surprised or meets with unexpected resistance; a game cock put into a cage with a full-grown male at once attacked the eagle and beat him in the most approved manner, and even the common cock

has fairly put this cowardly bird to flight. The females are somewhat larger, braver, and fiercer than the males. When wounded, or irritated in captivity, it defends itself with beak and claws, striking with the latter, and beating furiously with its wings. Like the golden eagles, these birds live to a great age. They are generally seen in pairs, and the union appears to last for life, the two hunting and feeding together, and driving off other birds of the same species. Along the southern Mississippi, incubation commences in January; the nest is placed on the top of a tall tree, and not on cliffs like the golden eagle's; it is a rude structure, made of sticks, turf, weeds, and moss, measuring 5 or 6 feet in diameter, used year after year, and added to annually. The eggs are usually 2, of a dull white color. The attachment of the old birds to their young is great. The weight of the adult male is from 6 to 8 lbs., that of the female from 8 to 12. The flesh of the young is said to be palatable, having the taste of veal. Audubon laments that this bird should have been selected as the emblem of the United States, and quotes the following from one of Benjamin Franklin's letters: "For my part, I wish the bald eagle had not been chosen as the representative of our country. He is a bird of bad moral character; he does not get his living honestly." After alluding to his tyranny over the fish hawk, Franklin continues: "With all this injustice, he is never in good case, but like those among men who live by sharping and robbing, he is generally poor. Beside, he is a rank coward; the little king-bird, not bigger than a sparrow, attacks him boldly, and drives him out of the district. He is, therefore, by no means a proper emblem for the brave and honest Cincinnati of America, who have driven all the king-birds from our country, though exactly fit for that order of knights which the French call chevaliers d'industrie." The writer, having had under his care for several months a large pair of these eagles, has had ample opportunity to observe their habits; the female not only attacks and abuses the male, but stretches her wings to the utmost extent, attempting to cover with them every piece of food placed in the cage. The name of bald eagle is really a misnomer, as the head is as thickly feathered as in any species; the proper name is white-headed eagle.-The bird of Washington (H. Washingtonii, Aud.) was first described by Audubon ("Ornithological Biography," vol. i. p. 58), and seems not to have been seen by any other ornithologist; he first saw it on the upper Mississippi in Feb. 1814; a few years after he met with a pair near the Ohio river in Kentucky, which had built their nest on a range of high cliffs; 2 years after the discovery of the nest he killed a male which was the subject of his description; after this he saw two other pairs near the Ohio river. His reason for giving the name to the bird is thus stated by himself: "Washington was brave, so is the eagle; like it, too, he was the terror of his foes; and his fame, extending from pole to pole, resem

bles the majestic soarings of the mightiest of the feathered tribe. If America has reason to be proud of her Washington, so has she to be proud of her great eagle." The flight of this is said to be different from that of the whiteheaded eagle, the former encircling a greater space, sailing nearer the surface of the earth, and darting upon its prey in a spiral manner. The bill was bluish black, with pale edges; the iris chestnut-brown; upper part of the head, hind neck, back, scapulars, rump, tail coverts, and posterior tibial feathers, blackish brown, with a coppery gloss; the throat, fore neck, breast, and abdomen light brownish yellow, each feather blackish brown in the centre; wing coverts light grayish brown, those next the body approaching the color of the back; primaries and tail dark brown; anterior tibial feathers grayish brown. The length is given at 3 feet 7 inches, extent of wings 10 feet 2 inches, bill 3 inches, tarsus 4 inches, and the weight 143 lbs.; this was a male, and of course the female would have been considerably larger. Though this bird is generally admitted as a species on the authority of Audubon, many ornithologists do not regard it as such. The characters of the bill and color of the plumage are very like those of the young white-headed eagle; the increase in length is only 3 or 4 inches, while the increase in extent of wings is about 3 feet, which proportions throw some doubt on the accuracy of the measurements, as such a relative extent of wings belongs rather to the vultures than the eagles. It is very strange, too, that no other ornithologist should have been able to see or procure this bird, and that no specimen should exist in any cabinet. It does not appear that Audubon came very near the eagles which he calls "birds of Washington," except in the instance in which he shot one, which from his drawing and description might very well be a young white-headed eagle; in the other cases they were flying over him, except when he watched them from a nest at a distance of 100 yards, which certainly is not near enough to form a sufficiently accurate idea even of so large a bird as an eagle. The fact of the nest being on a cliff is in favor of their having been golden eagles, as the white-headed species builds in lofty trees. There seems, therefore, sufficient ground for doubting the validity of this species, which ought not to be acknowledged until further proof is given of its non-identity with the golden, the white-headed, or perhaps the whitetailed sea eagle of Europe; it seems to have some of the characters of all these, united to the wings of a vulture, which would place it, if a reality, in a genus distinct from aquila or haliaëtus.-The white-tailed or cinereous sea eagle of Europe (H. albicilla, Linn.), the young of which Audubon thinks bears the greatest resemblance to his bird of Washington, has at this age a blackish bill; head and hind neck dark brown, with white markings, disappearing with age; fore neck and breast brown, with brown ish white marks; general color of the plumage

66

It is

light brown, with a dark streak on the middle of each feather. In the old bird the bill becomes yellow, the general plumage grayish brown, palest on the head and neck, and the tail white; the length is 3 feet, and the extent of wings 6 feet 9 inches. This species, called also osprey, ossifrage, and pygargus, is distributed over the northern portions of the old world; it feeds principally on fish, like our white-headed eagle, forcing the fish hawk to provide for him on the principle that “ might makes right." It prefers cold climates, and the vicinity of the sea, though it visits the interior rivers and lakes; when unable to obtain fish, it feeds upon sea birds, young seals, and any small animals which it can surprise. Its flight is neither so elevated nor so rapid as that of the previously described species. The nest is placed on cliffs near the sea, and the eggs are 2, of a dirty white color; incubation takes place in April.-The northern sea eagle (H. pelagicus, Pallas) is the largest of the family, and inhabits the Russian American islands and northeastern Asia. The total length of the female is 34 feet; the wings are shorter than usual, and the tail is wedge-shaped. In the adult the bill and the legs are yellow; the general plumage brownish black, with a large frontal space, greater wing coverts, abdomen, and tail, white. In the young the tail is white, with brownish black marks, the quills black, the secondaries and tertiaries white at their bases; other parts dull brownish black. a fishing eagle, though it occasionally captures birds and quadrupeds. According to Pallas, it breeds in northeastern Asia.-There are several genera of smaller eagles, as the crested eagles (spizaëtus, Vieill.). The black-tufted eagle (S. ornatus, Daud.) is as large as a raven, black, with a long tuft hanging from the occiput, and the edge of the wings and bands under the tail whitish; the crest is mixed with white; the thighs and tarsal feathers banded with black and white; tarsus feathered to the toes; it inhabits South America. Other species of the genus are found in Africa and the Indian archipelago, where they live in jungles and woods, pouncing on pheasants, hares, and similar animals passing underneath; they also seize prey on the wing. The reptile eagles (morphnus, Cuv.) are peculiar to South America; they live in the forests, feeding on reptiles, small animals, and birds. A well-known species is the M. urubitinga (Gmel.); this is black, without a crest, rump and lower part of the tail white; the long tarsi are bare of feathers. The harpy eagles (genus thrasaëtus, Gray, or harpyia, Vieill.) are peculiar to South America; they will be described in the article HARPY. The genus pandion (Sav.) will be described under FISH HAWK, the common name of the best known species. The caracara, or Brazilian eagle, does not belong to the aquilina, but to the polyborina, s subfamily coming nearest to the vultures; this bird (polyborus tharus, Molina) is of various shades of brown, with streaks and mottlings of

brownish black; wings barred with white, and the tail coverts dull white barred with dusky; tail grayish white, with 16 narrow bars and a terminal band of blackish brown; the length is about 2 feet, and the extent of wings 4 feet, the bill 24 inches. It is found from Florida to Brazil, and it feeds with the turkey buzzards and carrion crows on carcasses; it has the habits of the vultures, with the additional power of carrying prey in its talons; beside carrion, it devours small reptiles and birds; it walks like the turkey buzzard. Its flight is rapid and graceful. The eagle, in mythology, is the sacred bird of the Hindoo Vishnu and of the Greek Zeus. In the Roman ceremony of apotheosis an eagle ascended from the burning catafalco, and was believed to bear the soul of the deceased to Olympus. In the Scandinavian mythology, it is the bird of wisdom, and sits in the boughs of the tree yggdrasill.-The Etruscans were the first who adopted the eagle as the symbol of royal power, and bore its image as a standard at the head of their armies. From the time of Marius it was the principal emblem of the Roman republic, and the only standard of the legions. It was represented with outspread wings, and was usually of silver till the reign of Hadrian, who made it of gold. The double-headed eagle was in use among the Byzantine emperors, to indicate, it is said, their claim to the empire both of the East and the West; was adopted in the 14th century by the German emperors, and afterward appeared on the arms of Russia. The arms of Prussia were distinguished by the black eagle, and those of Poland by the white. The eagle is the emblematic device of the United States of America, is the badge of the order of the Cincinnati, and is figured on coins. Napoleon adopted it for the emblem of imperial France; it was not, however, represented in heraldic style, but in its natural form, with the thunderbolts of Jupiter. It was disused under the Bourbons, but was restored by a decree of Louis Napoleon (Jan. 1, 1852). The order of the white eagle was created in Poland by Ladislas the Short, in 1325, was renewed in 1706, and since 1831 has been united with the imperial orders of Russia. The order of the black eagle was founded in 1701 by Frederic I., the first king of Prussia, and is conferred upon princes of the royal family, members of foreign sovereign houses, and a few officers of state, to whom it gives personal nobility. The order of the red eagle, the second Prussian order in dignity, was founded in 1712 by the margrave George William of Baireuth, and was transferred with that principality to Prussia in 1792.

EAGLE, a gold coin of the United States, of the value of $10, first coined in 1795, as provided by the act of congress of April 2, 1792, of the fineness of 22 carats (916 thousandths), and weighing 270 grains, thus containing 247 grains of pure gold. The silver dollar contained at the same time 371 grains pure silver, the ratio of valuation of silver to gold being as 15 to 1. An ounce of pure gold being worth more than

15 of silver in Europe, our gold coins continued to be exported until the act of June 28, 1834, substituted the ratio of 16 to 1 by reducing the fineness of the eagle to 899 thousandths, and its weight to 258 grains, being 232 grains pure gold. By the act of Jan. 18, 1837, the fineness of the eagle, as of all the other coins, was raised to 900 thousandths, its weight remaining as before 258 grains, of which 23,22 were pure gold; and at these rates it continues to be coined.There are also a half eagle, first coined in 1795, a quarter eagle, first coined in 1796, and a double eagle, first coined in 1849.

Anatomists

EAR, the organ of hearing. divide it into the external, the middle, and the internal ear. The first consists of the visible external organ, a cartilaginous and fleshy structure, of the form best adapted to collect the atmospheric vibrations, and the meatus or tubular opening leading to the tympanum. The tympanum is a firm fibrous membrane stretched across this opening, whose office, as its name implies, is to communicate vibrations like the head of a drum. The middle ear is a cavity about the form and size of a kidney bean; from its lower point a tubular opening descends to the posterior part of the mouth, and terminates in a trumpet-like expansion; this is usually called the Eustachian tube, and sometimes meatus auditorius internus. Across the middle ear is stretched a chain of 4 minute bones, connected with each other by cartilage and tendon. These are the malleus or mallet, the incus or anvil, the orbicularis or round bone, and the stapes or stirrup, each named from some fancied resemblance. The office of this chain, which is attached to the tympanum at one end, and to the membrane covering the foramen ovale at the other, is to transmit the vibrations of the air; to aid in this, they are controlled by 2 minute muscles, which render the 2 tympani tense. The whole of the middle ear, with these minute bones, is covered with mucous membrane, and when irritated, as by a cold, it secretes mucus very freely, and thus often induces temporary and partial deafness. The internal ear, also called the labyrinth, to which the external and middle ear are but the ante-rooms, consists of the vestibule, the 3 semicircular canals, and the cochlea. The vestibule is an irregular cavity shut out from the middle ear by the membrane covering the foramen ovale, and communicating with the semicircular canals by 5 openings, 2 of these canals being joined at one end. The cochlea, as its name implies, is a bony structure resembling in form a snail shell; internally it is divided by a lamina, bony, ligamentous, and muscular, into 2 cavities called the scala vestibuli and the scala tympani, which communicate at the top of the cochlea, in a curved channel called the modiolus. This modiolus has numerous orifices, through which pass the filaments of the auditory nerve. The whole internal ear is lined with a delicate serous membrane, which secretes a fluid called perilymph. Within the vestibule and the semicircular canals, we find the