Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 03.djvu/513

EAGLE PASS 451 EAR They are cosmopolitan in distribution. The bill is powerful, but rather short, high at the root, and slightly curved; the partition between the nostrils is complete; the upper margin of the eye- cartila^'nous frame-work. The deop, capacious cent! a' space to r/hich several grooves converge is termed the conclia, and the lowest and pendulous portion of the ear is termed the lobe. The audi- tory canal passes from the concha in- ward and a little forward for rather more than an inch. It is narrower at the middle than at either extremity; and on this account there is often consider- able difficulty in extracting foreign bodies which have been insertej into it. The membrane of the tympanum or drum which terminates it is placed obliquely, in consequence of the lower surface of the meatus being longer than the upper. The canal is partly cartila- ginous and partly osseus; the osseus portion consisting, in the foetus, of a ring of bone, across which the mem- brane is stretched, and in many animals remaining persistently as a separate bone. The orifice of the meatus is con- cealed by a pointed process, which pro- jects from the facial direction over it like a valve, and which is called the tra- gus, probably from sometimes being covered with bristly hair like that of a goat (tragus) ; and it is further de- fended by an abundance of ceruminous glands, which furnish an adhesive, yel- low, and bitter secretion, the cerumen or wax, which entangles small insects, AMERICAN BALD-HEADED EAGLE socket projects; the head and neck are feathered; the soles of the feet bear large callosities. It is a matter of much difficulty to separate the eagles defi- nitely from the related falcons, buz- zards, kites, and hawks. EAGLE PASS, a city of Texas, the county-seat of Maverick co. It is on the Southern Pacific and the Mexican Inter- national railroads, and on the Rio Grande river. It is the center of an important coal mining, agricultural, and stock-raising region, has an extensive trade in cattle, hides, and wool, is a port of entry, and has a large international trade. It has a handsome Federal bufld- ing. Pop. (1910) 3,536; (1920) 5,765. EAB, the organ of hearing; is com- posed of three parts, the external ear, the middle ear, or tympanum, and the internal ear, or labyrinth. The external ear consists of two portions, the auricle or pinna (the part popularly recognized as the ear), and the auditory canal or external meatus. In man, the auricle, on its outer or more exposed surface, presents various eminences and depres- sions, resulting from the form of its ?«'<% EAGLE Top — Harpy Eagle Bottom — Kite particles of dust, and other small for- eign bodies, and prevents their farther passage into the meatus. The middle ear, or cavity of the tyrn- panum, is a space filled with air which is received from the pharynx through