In Response to the Letter to the Editor Regarding The History of Otology and What We Can Learn from It: Putting Historical Research in Context.

Abstract

In Reply We thank Dr. Ruben for his interesting point regarding our recent editorial The History of Otology and What We Can Learn from It: Putting Historical Research in Context. In his epochal text De aure humana tractatus, Valsalva1 provided detailed anatomical descriptions of the external, middle, and inner ear. Valsalva may have first suggested an acoustic property of the semicircular canals. The idea that semicircular canals function as auditory organs seems to have been pervasive when Flourens was active in research. For example, Josef Hyrtl, an Austrian anatomist and contemporary of Flourens, compared the inner ears of 24 different animals and proposed that the canals were responsible for directional hearing. It was only after the works of physician Josef Breuer, physicist Ernst Mach, chemist Alexander Crum Brown, and physiologist Ernst Ewald in the late 19th century that the function of the canals became more apparent.2 We deeply appreciate Dr. Ruben's laborious efforts in translating De aure humana tractatus.3 The challenging work of translating historical texts and uploading them to online journal databases is crucial to maintaining the scientific record. Sincerely, Pavan Krishnan, B.A. Nicholas Andresen, M.D. Bryan Ward, M.D. Pavan S. Krishnan, B.A. Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine Richmond, VirginiaNicholas S. Andresen, M.D. Department of Otolaryngology–Head & Neck Surgery, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine Baltimore, MarylandBryan K. Ward, M.D. Division of Otology, Neurotology, and Skull Base Surgery, Department of Otolaryngology–Head & Neck Surgery, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine Baltimore, Maryland [email protected]