mac'ula, pi. mac'ulce

[L. a spot.] i. small spot, or what appears as a spot on section, differing in color from the surrounding ti ue. 2. A small discolored patch or spot on the skin, not elevated above the general surface; macule. A 3. acus'tic a [BNA], acoustic macula or spot; an oval area about 3 mm. in length in the wall of both sacculus (m. a. sac'culi [BNA]) and utriculus (m. a. utric'uU [BNA]) in the membranous labyrinth; each of these maculae consists of fusiform nucleated supporting cells, between which are flask cells (also nucleated) having a hair-like proce projecting from the free extremity of each, hence called hair-cells; on the surface of each macula is a collection of rhombic calcium carbonate crystals called otoconia; the macula is in relation with the nerve-fibers which terminate in arborizations around the hair-cells, m. al'bid a, pi. macultB albidtE, one of a number of white spots or patches, sometimes observed post mortem on the serous layer of the pericardium, m. atroph'ica, an atrophic glistening white spot In the skin, usually following a circumscribed hemorrhage, m, caeru'lea, blue spot, a bluish stain on the skin caused by the bites of fleas, Uce, or other cutaneous parasites, m. cor'nero, macula (3). m. cribro'- sa [BNA], one of three areas {inferior, media, and superior) on the wall of the vestibule of the labyrinth, marked by numerous foramina giving pa age to nerve-filaments supplying portions of the membranous labyrinth; sometimes a fourth cribrosa quaria) is described, giving pa age to the cochlear nerve, m. fla'va [BNA], a yellowish spot at the anterior extremity of the rima glottidis where the two labia vocalia join. m. germin at i'va, germinal spot.* m. gonorrho'ica, a spot of brighter red than the surrounding membrane, the congested li'ps of the duct of Bartholin's gland, sometimes seen in gonorrhea, m. lac'tea, m. albida. m. lu'tea [BNA], yellow spot, a small orange-yellow area on the inner surface of the retina at a point corresponding to the posterior pole of the eyeball, and therefore in the visual axis, m, tend in'ea, m. albida. Mongo'lian mac'ulse, Mongolian spots.*