The attachment of the cupulae, otolith and tectorial membranes to the sensory cell areas.

Using colloidal iron staining or post-fixation with ruthenium tetroxide it could be evidenced that the interstitial cells on the sensory areas in the inner ear in pigeons produce a fibrillar network sur- rounding every hair bundle of the sensory cells. This network ties the overlying membrane to the surface of the sensory area. The compartments created by the interstitial cells constitute fluid-filled plastic tubes in which the hairs are suspended. This arrangement gives mechanically a preference for a shearing movement, which bends the hair bundles in their compartments in exact accordance with the fluid displacement in the canal. This gives the highest sensitivity with the lowest expenditure of energy. Morphological reasons for a continuous renewal and a slow disaggregation of the cupulae, tectorial and other membranes are presented.

[1]  E. Dempsey,et al.  Electron microscopy of the organ of Corti. , 1957, The American journal of anatomy.

[2]  R. Sanger,et al.  An Agglutinable Factor in Red Blood Cells , 1946, Nature.

[3]  C. W. Hale.  Histochemical Demonstration of Acid Polysaccharides in Animal Tissues , 1946, Nature.

[4]  P. Gaylarde,et al.  Ruthenium Tetroxide for Fixing and Staining Cytoplasmic Membranes , 1968, Science.

[5]  R. L. Boord,et al.  THE EFFECTS OF CUPULAR REMOVAL ON THE ACTIVITY OF AMPULLARY STRUCTURES IN THE PIGEON. , 1964, Acta oto-laryngologica.

[6]  A. Hilding.  The tectorial membrane in the theory of hearing; the significance of the insertion of the tectorial membrane in the transmission of sound vibrations to the hair cells and a theory of the mechanïsm of tone location in the cochlea. , 1953, The Annals of otology, rhinology, and laryngology.

[7]  A. Vendrik,et al.  The mechanical analysis of the responses from the end‐organs of the horizontal semicircular canal in the isolated elasmobranch labyrinth , 1952, The Journal of physiology.

[8]  A. Flock,et al.  ELECTRON MICROSCOPIC AND ELECTROPHYSIOLOGICAL STUDIES ON THE LATERAL LINE CANAL ORGAN. , 1964, Acta oto-laryngologica. Supplementum.

[9]  H ENGSTROM,et al.  The ultrastructural organization of the organ of Corti and of the vestibular sensory epithelia. , 1958, Experimental cell research.

[10]  R. Kimura,et al.  Hairs of the cochlear sensory cells and their attachment to the tectorial membrane. , 1966, Acta oto-laryngologica.

[11]  A. Hilding.  XXIX Studies on the Otic Labyrinth , 1952 .

[12]  G. Békésy.  Shearing Microphonics Produced by Vibrations near the Inner and Outer Hair Cells , 1953 .

[13]  A. Hilding.  Studies on the otic labyrinth. On the origin and insertion of the tectorial membrane. , 1952, The Annals of otology, rhinology, and laryngology.

[14]  Irving Hardesty,et al.  On the nature of the tectorial membrane and its probable role in the anatomy of hearing , 1908 .

[15]  G. Békésy.  Some electro-mechanical properties of the organ of Corti. , 1954 .

[16]  G. Békésy.  Microphonics Produced by Touching the Cochlear Partition with a Vibrating Electrode , 1951 .

[17]  Rinehart Jf,et al.  An improved method for histologic demonstration of acid mucopolysaccharides in tissues. , 1951 .