Abstract
Vestibular sensory organs have been examined various types of microscopes. The scanning electron microscope (SEM), with which three dimensional observation is possible, has been used in numerous studies of the surface microstructure of vestibular sensory organs. Recently, improvements in instruments and techniques for SEM have made possible a more detailed and accurate description of the ultrastructure of the vestibular sensory organs.
The vestibular sensory cells and nerve elements in bullfrogs were observed by means of the Osmium-DMSO-Osmium method and SEM.
1. It was possible to observe by SEM the three dimensional structure of the vestibular sensory cells, cytoplasmic organelles, and nerve elements by means of the cracking method.
2. Only type 2 cells were observed in the vestibular epithelium in the bullfrog.
3. The nerves distributed in the sensory cells were found to bifurcate from the trunk and change abruptly into thin nerves which led to nerve endings.
