Ernst Julius Richard Ewald

rdf:langString Ernst Julius Richard Ewald

rdf:langString Ernst Julius Richard Ewald (14 February 1855 – 22 July 1921) was a German physiologist born in Berlin. He was a younger brother to gastroenterologist Carl Anton Ewald (1845–1915). In 1880, after finishing his studies in mathematics, physics and medicine, he became an assistant to physiologist Friedrich Goltz (1834-1902) at the University of Strasbourg. In 1900 he succeeded Goltz as chair of physiology at Strasbourg, a position he maintained until 1918. Ewald is best remembered for his research of the vestibular system of the inner ear, which largely involved experiments performed on the semicircular canal system of pigeons. From these studies the so-called "Ewald laws" are derived, which deal with the effects of endolymph motion on body, head and eye movements and also on the phenomena of excitation-inhibition asymmetries in the vestibular system. * Ewald's first law: "The axis of nystagmus parallels the anatomic axis of the semicircular canal that generated it". * Ewald's second law: "Ampullopetal endolymphatic flow produces a stronger response than ampullofugal flow in the horizontal canal". * Ewald's third law: "Ampullofugal flow produces a stronger response than ampullpetal flow in the . In 1892 he was given an award by the Paris Academy of Sciences for his monograph "Physiologische Untersuchungen über das Endorgan des Nervus octavus".