The Journal of 

 Comparative Neurology and Psychology 



Volume XIV. 1904. Number 1. 



THE RELATION OF THE MOTOR ENDINGS ON 

 THE MUSCLE OF THE FROG TO NEIGH- 

 BORING STRUCTURES. 



By John Gordon Wilson, M.A., M.B., (Edin.) 



[From the Hull Anatomical Laboratory of the University of Chicago.) 

 With Plates I and II. 



It is obviously a matter of some importance in the study 

 of the relation of nerve excitability to muscle contraction, to 

 determine the manner in which the peripheral part of the 

 neurone is related to the muscle fiber. Nor has it been neg- 

 lected ; it has long been a favorite subject for investigation and 

 a prolific field for speculation and debate. At the present time 

 renewed attention is being called to it by the recent works of 

 of Apathy, Ruffini, Grabower and others. In these writings 

 special emphasis is being laid on the presence of fine fibrillae, 

 called by Ruffini ultra-terminal fibrillae, which are projected 

 from nerve endings to various neighboring parts. 



From an historical standpoint it is extremely interesting 

 to compare the results of Kuhne with those of Ruffini, 

 DoGiEL, HuBER, SiHLER and others, and to observe that as 

 methods and technique improve, a corresponding complexity 

 can be shown in the relation of nerve to muscle. This is well 

 exemplified in the ending of the motor neurone on the frog's 

 muscle. As regards this animal one must acknowledge that 

 the remarks of Apathy on nerve endings in invertebrate mus- 

 cles are not inappropriate : — 



"Wenn ich auch hier und da schlechthin von Nervenendigungen 

 spreche, so will ich doch gleich hier von vorn herein betonon, dass ich 

 eine Endigung der leitenden Primitivfibrillen nirgends mit Sicherheit 

 constatiren konnte ; ich kann nur sagen, bis wie weit ich eine leitende 



