Acomplex structure and a mysterious function: for three centuries the vestibular labyrinth has “fatigued the mind” of scholars according to the words of Luigi Luciani. In the second half of the 19th century, the debate between auditory function and motor function divided the physiologists at the University of Padova. Filippo Lussana, a supporter of the auditory function of the semicircular canals, was contrasted by Aristide Stefani, his student and successor in the Padua chair, who recognizes the vestibular organs as