R籀bert B獺r獺ny (April 22, 1876 - April 8, 1936) was a Austro-Hungarian otologist. Otology is a branch of medicine which studies normal and pathological anatomy and physiology of the ear. He was syringing fluid into the inner ear of a patient to relieve the patient's dizzy spells. The patient experienced vertigo and nystagmus when B獺r獺ny injected fluid that was too cold. In response, he warmed the fluid for the patient and the patient experienced nystagmus in the opposite direction. B獺r獺ny theorized that the endolymph was sinking when it was cool and rising when it was warm, and thus the direction of flow of the endolymph was providing the proprioceptive signal to the vestibular organ. He followed up on this observation with a series of experiments on what he called the caloric reaction. The research resulting from his observations made surgical treatment of vestibular organ diseases possible. He served with the Austrian army during WWI as a civilian surgeon and was captured by the Russian Army. When his Nobel Prize was awarded in 1914, B獺r獺ny was in a Russian POW camp. He was released in 1916 following diplomatic negotiations with Russia. From 1917 until his death he was professor at Uppsala University. He died in 1936 at the age of 59, a few days shy of his 60th birthday.