Ear the organ in which the sensations of hearing and head motion are initiated.

These two functions take place in an intricate mechanism encased in the hardest bone of the body, the temporal bone, situated between the external ear and the center of the skull.

The outer ear is constructed for receiving sound waves and transmitting them to these internal mechanisms.

In the dense bone of the internal ear are two of the body's most delicate structures: the cochlea, the organ of hearing; and the labyrinth, which is one of the sources of nerve stimuli in the control of body balance.

The present article concerns the ear in human beings.

For discussions of ears and hearing in other animals, the reader should consult Bird, Insects, Mammals, and articles on individual kinds of animals.

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