Both cochleas of a rhesus monkey exhibiting stable spontaneous and stimulus-frequency emissions were evaluated histologically using surface-preparation methods to determine if certain features of these emissions could be related to structural properties of the organ of Corti (OC). The comprehensive assessment included preparation of routine cytocochleograms and a detailed study of the arrangement of cochlear sensory cells, best revealed by the precise positional relationships between stereocilia bundles, in selected areas representing low-, medium-, and high-frequencies. Several additional measurements were made in an area extending from about 25-60% distance from the apex, which was estimated to encompass the cochlear region where emissions were generated. These quantifications included measures, in both micrometers and Hertz, of the distances between irregularities in the lateral border of the OC due to a sporadically occurring fourth row of outer hair cells (OHCs). Measures, in micrometers, of the changes in the radial extent of the corresponding OC in the presence or absence of this extra fourth row of OHCs were also made. A final measure within low-, medium-, and high-frequency OC regions consisted of describing the angles that the tips of the stereocilia bundles were displaced from an axis parallel to the tunnel of Corti. For comparative purposes, similar plots were made in comparable regions of the OC in the normal and experimental cochleas of three additional rhesus monkeys in which one ear had been systematically exposed to noise. In the emitting-monkey cochlea, there was a mild loss of sensory cells scattered throughout the OC which was generally greater for the OHCs. No evidence of small circumscribed lesions, defined as a loss of more than four adjacent hair cells, was found. The most striking observation which varied in degree across the three other monkeys was a generalized irregularity in the cellular organization of the OHC region which was most pronounced in the low- and midfrequency regions of the OC. The notable cellular disorganization specific to the apical half of the cochlea was reflected by an increased variance in the distribution of deviation angles measured for corresponding stereocilia bundles. Outer hair cells in the remaining basal region of the OC were arranged in three regular rows with the usual stereocilia orientation.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)