Cerumen - Cerumen is also known as earwax.  Page 327 - "Cerumen is genetically determined to be of two major types: 1. Dry cerumen, which is gray and flaky and frequently forms a thin mass in the ear canal; and 2. wet cerumen, which is honey brown to dark brown and moist.  Chromosome 16 holds one gene trait determining the wet or dry phenotype.  the wet cerumen phenotype occurs more often in caucasians and african americans, where the dry cerumen is more frequent in asians and american indians.  the presence and composition of cerumen are not related to poor hygiene.  take caution to avoid mistaking the flaky, dry cerumen for eczematous lesions.

Corneal Light reflex.  Page 290 - Assess the parallel alignment of the eye axes by shining a light towards the person's eyes.  Direct the person to stare straight ahead as you hold the light about 30 cm (12 inches) away.  Note the reflection of the light on the corneas; a normal finding would be in the exact same spot in both eyes.  An abnormal finding would be asymmetry of the light reflex, which indicates deviation in alignment from eye muscle weakness or paralysis.  If you see this, perform the cover test.

Diagnostic positions test. Page 291 - Leading the eyes through the six cardinal positions of gaze will elicit any muscle weakness during movement.  ASk the person to hold the head steady and to follow the movement of your finger, pen, or penlight only with the eyes.  Hold the target back about 12 inches so the person can focus on it comfortable, and move it to each of the six positions, hold it momentarily, then back to center.  Progress clockwise.  A normal response ise parallel tracking of the object with both eyes.

Air conduction - sound traveling into the ear through the tympanic membrane to the inner ear bones and then the nerve.

Bone conduction - sound travels through the bone to the inner ear bones then to the nerve.  Does not pass through the tympanic membrane

Weber test : Bone conduction test done to determine conductive hearing loss.  The sound should 'lateralize to bad ear as it is not distracted by background noise'

Rinne Test - Tests the difference in strength of Air conduction versus bone conduction.  The results should be AC = BC or AC < BC. 

However - Page 333: "Traditionally these tests have been taught for physical examination; yet evidence shows that both the weber and the rinne tuning fork tests are inaccurate and do not yield precise or reliable data.  Thus these tests should not be used for general screening"