cold water in ear?

[Linda Bartoshuk]

        Reply to:   RE>cold water in ear?

Dear Ron,
There is a fascinating report in a German monograph about taste sensations
evoked by washing the ear canal (Urbantschitsch, Beobachtungen uber anomalien
des geschmacks der tastempfindungen und der speichelsecretion in folge von
erkrankungen der paukenhohle,1876.  The chorda tympani nerve is so close to
the ear drum as it travels through the middle ear that it is not 
surprising that thermal stimulation could affect it through the ear 
drum.  I will have to read
the Nature paper to see what they are talking about.
Linda