50 CHARLES F. W. MC CLURE, 



coarse fibrils to the small chromophilous granules which lie upon or 

 between the fine fibrils. 



I am led to this conclusion by reason of the fact that the spindles 

 are not clearly defined in sublimate preparations, and as all of Rohde's 

 figures of ganglion cells (tab. 24) were drawn from sublimate pre- 

 parations, he has not, in all probability, seen these spindles. 



To prove the non-existence in the cell body of coarse neuroglia 

 fibrils which are similar to those enveloping the cell, the following 

 evidence is presented: 



1) The coarse neuroglia fibrils which envelop the cells are in- 

 variably stained by the eosin and light green respectively, when the 

 methylen blue-eosin and safranin-light green combinations are used. 

 These coarse, neuroglia fibrils always stain much more deeply than 

 those structures in the cell which are stained by the same dyes (fine 

 fibrils and ground-substance). 



2) No structures are found in the cell bodies or axis-cylinder 

 processes of these cells when stained by these combination stains which 

 resemble in their mode of staining these coarse neuroglia fibrils. 



3) The structures already spoken of that do resemble coarse 

 neuroglia fibrils in sublimate and FLEMMiNG-iron-haematoxylin pre- 

 paration (rows of granules, granular lines) are invariably 

 stained, when the combination stains are used, by the methylen blue 

 or safranin, as the case may be, and never by the eosin or light green 

 which stains the neuroglia fibrils. 



4) Finally, if coarse neuroglia fibrils really extend into the cell 

 body, one ought to certainly find indications of such a connection on 

 the circumference of freshly isolated cells, and on that of cells stained 

 by any of the methylen blue or silver nitrate methods. 



Such, however, is not the case, for as Flemming (9, p. 280) 

 states, "bei solchen Präparaten erscheint der Umfang der Nervenzellen 

 vollkommen scharf und glatt abgesetzt". This statement of Flemming 

 appears in his critique of Rohde's theory , which he regards as erro- 

 neous, and although applied to the nerve cells of Vertebrates, applies 

 equally well to those of Invertebrates. 



In addition to proving the non-existence of coarse neuroglia fibrils 

 within the cell body, the above evidence is clearly against the ac- 

 ceptance of the view set forth by Rohde and others, concerning the 

 function of the fibrillar structures within the cell (Stützgerüst). 



