An experimental study on the onset of endolymphatic secretion in chick embryos.

Extirpation of the endolymphatic anlage of the ear vesicle or that part of the ear placode which develops into the endolymphatic anlage in chick embryos, resulted in the absence of the endolymphatic system. In specimens of which the endolymphatic anlage was removed on the fourth day, healing of the wound was completed soon after the fifth day of incubation. Most of these experimental animals developed endolymphatic hydrops at a later stage. However, where healing was delayed after the fifth day, the open wound acted as an escape route for the endolymph (thus preventing further closure) which at that stage (or soon after) reached an appreciable volume.