A comprehensive survey of the anatomy of the eustachian tube seems timely in view of its importance in relation to some of the problems of aviation and submarine medicine.
Bartholomaeus Eustachius (1520-1574) is accredited with its first description.1 However, according to Singer,2 Alcmaeon (about 500 B. C.) "discovered the tubes, called in after years by the name of Eustachius." This author also points out that Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) refers to it in his writings and that "there is, moreover, evidence that two contemporaries of Eustachius, Vesalius (1514-1546) and Ingrassias (1510-1580), were acquainted with it."
Most of the literature dealing with the eustachian tube in modern times is concerned primarily with its function and particularly with the controversy pertaining to whether it is normally open or closed. For a review of the literature bearing on this and related questions the reader is referred to Rich3 and Perlman.4
The objective of the