ORIGIN AND DISTRIBUTION OF AIR CELLS IN THE TEMPORAL BONE: OBSERVATIONS ON SPECIMENS FROM TWENTY-SEVEN INFANTS AND SIXTY-NINE HUMAN FETUSES

The recent interest in pneumatization and suppuration of the petrous portion of the temporal bone is shown by the number of articles on the subject which have appeared since 1930. Most of these articles are clinical and only a few anatomic in nature. Gross, roentgen and corrosion studies represent the anatomic methods employed in the majority of cases. These methods, as pointed out by Guild,¹ Jones² and Anson, Wilson and Gaardsmoe,³ are not always accurate and should be supplemented with a study of serial histologic sections. The demand for observations on pneumatization of the petrous bone based on serial histologic sections warrants this report.

REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE  In the study of air cells various methods have been employed. Bezold⁴ and Siebenmann⁵ employed the corrosion method.Another method was to make dissections of saw cut sections of petrous bones. Using this gross method, Belinoff and Balan⁶ studied petrous bones and