Human Internal Auditory Canal

THE INTERNAL auditory canal had been studied by various authors1-4to establish normal anatomy and its variations in the same and different indivduals. The methods previously employed were mainly conventional roentgenography, laminography, and histological sections. The configuration of the canal prevented any direct examination of its dimensions which is most desirable. The silicone rubber medical grade elastomer (Silastic R 382) afforded us an opportunity to make exact casts of the canals. These casts presented an all dimensional picture of the canals. Materials and Methods Fifteen paired ears were removed from white and Negro cadavers, and were labelled in order. The internal auditory canals were cleaned, removing all their contents, and were painted with medical fluid (R 360 medical fluid 20 centistokes) under magnification of the dissecting microscope. The silicone rubber medical grade elastomer (nine parts), was mixed with medical fluid (one part). The resultant mixture was treated with the