THE NERVE ELEMENTS. 143 



implication that these two structures were genetically 

 distinct, but to-day the view is held that the fibre is the 

 outgrowth of the cell, and for that reason I shall follow 

 Schafer in speaking of the whole element, including all 

 the outgrowths, as a nerve cell ; and then for convenience 

 distinguish between the cell-body and its prolongations. 



FIG. 20. Isolated body of a large cell from the ventral horn of 

 the spinal cord. Human, X 200 diameters. (Obersteiner.) 

 A, neuron; D, dendrons ; N, nucleus with enclosures; /*, 

 pigment spot. 



Fig. 19 shows a series of cells from the nervous system 

 of man. 



A detailed description of the various shapes and sizes 

 of such cells would not be in place, but several types 

 may be mentioned. The largest cells, which are poly- 

 hedral, are found in the ventral horns of the spinal cord 

 and in the morphological continuation of these horns 



