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Re: A question on Békésy.



The viscosity of endolymph is similar to water.  The "gelatinous mass" is probably the agar/gelatin mixture mention earlier on the same page.

On Fri, Mar 19, 2010 at 9:20 AM, reinifrosch@xxxxxxxxxx <reinifrosch@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Dear colleagues,

At the bottom of page 475 of his book "Experiments in Hearing",
McGraw-Hill, New York, von Békésy (1960) has written:

"[...] It was further established that the gelatinous mass in the
cochlear duct increased the rigidity of the partition, especially
near the helicotrema. [...]"

What is that "gelatinous mass"? I seem to remember that
the viscosity of endolymph is about equal to that of water.

A wild guess: "gelatinous mass" = tectorial membrane (??)

Your (on- or off-line) suggestions would be very welcome,
of course, even if you are not absolutely sure !

Reinhart.

Reinhart Frosch,
Dr. phil. nat.,
r. PSI and ETH Zurich,
Sommerhaldenstr. 5B,
CH-5200 Brugg.
Phone: 0041 56 441 77 72.
Mobile: 0041 79 754 30 32.
E-mail: reinifrosch@xxxxxxxxxx .



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David C. Mountain, Ph.D.
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