52 INTRODUCTION TO NEUROLOGY . 



twines around the cell body of the second neuron or of a calyx- 

 like expansion or coarse-meshed reticulum closely enveloping 

 the cell body (Fig. 14). Another form of synapse is seen in Fig. 

 15 from the cortex of the cerebellum. The body and larger 

 dendrites of a single cortical neuron of the type known as 

 Purkinje cells (see p. 191) are shown in gray, and the terminal 

 branches of an afferent neuron are seen twining about the den- 

 dritic branches of the Purkinje cell, thus forming a very intimate 

 union. Similar synapses are found in the cerebral cortex (p. 

 272). Figure 16 illustrates a type of synapse also found in the 



Fig. 16. A "basket cell" from the cerebellar cortex of a rat, illustrating 

 the discharge of a single neuron, B, by synaptic connection with the cell 

 bodies of several Purkinje neurons, A, by basket-like endings of the axon: 

 A, cells of Purkinje; a, the basket-like synapse on the body of a Purkinje 

 cell; B, the basket cell; b, terminus of the axon; c, axon of basket cell. 

 (After Ram6n y Cajal; cf. Fig. 89, p. 190.) 



cerebellar cortex. A single "basket cell," B, has a short axon 

 whose branches form synapses around the bodies of a large 

 number of Purkinje cells, thus diffusing and greatly strength- 

 ening the nervous discharge (see p. 192 and Fig. 89, 6). For 

 still other types of synapse see Figs. 61, 89, 98, 104, 109, 126. 

 The synapse has been a crucial point in recent discussions 

 regarding the general physiology of the nervous system, many 

 neurologists believing that it is the most important part of the 

 reflex circuits (see, for instance, on the theory of sleep, p. 103). 

 The doctrine of the polarization of the neuron (p. 39) implies 



