Deafness practically illustrated / [James Yearsley].

  • James Yearsley
Date:
[1849]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Deafness practically illustrated / [James Yearsley]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    42/200 page 30
    quantity than can be carried off by the movements of the tubes in respiration, and by ciliary motion, the secreted mucus remains in. the tubes and cavities of the tympanum, becomes viscid by the absorption of its fluid particles, and most frequently occasions entire occlusion of the Eustachian canals; a result which is invariably attended by deafness. ‘This state of things may, and frequently does, continue a whole lifetime, without any efficient effort of nature to remove the obstruction; indeed, such must be almost impossible, when the disease has become chronic, from the peculiar structure and endowments of the organ affected. Under these circumstances it is that catheterism of the Eusta- chian tube becomes of such great and manifest impor- tance, being, in fact, the only means by which a resto- ration to the normal state can be attempted with rational expectation of success. In this place, it may be interesting to inquire, in what manner the Eustachian tube contributes to the perfection of hearing; the answer to which will not only simplify some of the most important affections of the ear, but place their treatment by means of this canal in its proper light. As an integrant part of the’ auditory apparatus, the Eustachian tube affords more indirect than direct assistance to the sense of hearing. Comparative anatomy shows that it is constantly pre- sent in all animals possessed of a tympanum, a faet in itself sufficient to prove its importance. The direct uses of the tube are probably to connect the cavity of the tympanum with the external air, and to bring the parts of the internal ear in connexion with the cavities of the nose, and the frontal and other sinuses. In illustration of the first use of the Eustachian canal,
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