Historical Introduction Since Johann Friedrich Meckel wrote hisHandbuch der menschlichen Anatomiein 1820, scores of investigators have examined the development of the ossicles and tried to solve the riddle of their origin. The subject has been a controversial one, and there have been almost as many opinions as investigators. With the exception of a few articles, all of the relevant material was written in the German language, and subsequently there have been no extensive translations of the important studies into English. Inevitably, errors crept into the historical reviews of the subject as translations were quoted and requoted without fresh reference to the original sources. The present article traces the history of investigations into the early development and origin of the auditory ossicles, providing extensive translations wherever possible. The primary emphasis is on human development. Studies dealing with infrahuman forms have not been included, with the exception of a few