THE NEURON 



41 



of the cell and (2) the specific functions of conduction to be 

 served. The dendrites spread widely throughout the surround- 

 ing tissues, thus giving the cell a large surface for the rapid ab- 

 sorption of food materials from the surrounding lymph. This 

 was regarded as the only function of the dendrites by Golgi and 

 some of the other pioneers in the study of neurons, and led them 

 to apply the name "protoplasmic processes" to these structures. 

 We have already seen that the dendrites are more than this, 



\\ 



Fig. 6. Enlarged view of a cell body similar to that of Fig. 5, from the 

 spinal cord of an ox, showing the large chromophilic bodies: a, Pigment; 

 b, axon; c, axon hillock; d, dendrites. (After von Lenhossdk.) 



however, being the usual avenues by which nervous impulses 

 enter the cell body. The size, length, and mode of branching 

 of the dendrites are, therefore, chiefly determined by their rela- 

 tions to other neurons from which they receive their nervous 

 impulses. The axon probably plays but little part in the gen- 

 eral nutrition of the cell, and its form is shaped almost entirely 

 by the distance to be traversed in order to reach the center or 

 centers into which it discharges. 



