Some morphological details of the endochondral layer of labyrinthine bone. A comparative anatomical light and transmission electron microscopit study.

The endochondral layer of labyrinthine bone of dog (Canis f. intermedius Woldrich) is examined by means of light and transmission electron microscopy. The osteocytes of the fine-fibred, alamellar "embryonic skein bone" (Meyer 1927) are surrounded by a fibre-less matrix. They correspond to osteocytes in long bones. Some of them are producing microfibrils according to formation of preosseous tissue which is called "intraosseous osteogenesis" (Knese 1970). Others are characterized by signs of micropetrosis or indicate osteocytic osteolysis. In the perivascular mesenchym of some vessels giant cells are visible which according to their ultrastructural characteristics are identified as osteoclasts. The occurrence of an embryonic type of bone in endochondral layer of otic capsule throughout life is discussed considering oxygenation via perivascular canalizition as well as biochemical aspects.