1 74 Journal of Comparative Neurology and Psychology. 



microsomes. Kolster interprets this structure as different from any- 

 thing that had been previously described, but it would seem to 

 be indistinguishable from the neurosomic net met with by other 

 authors. 



According to Bochenek ('oi) a fibrillar net may be beautifully 

 demonstrated in the nerve cells of Helix by the gold chloride method. 

 In the body of the cell the meshes of the net are tj-iangular or poly- 

 gonal but in the axone hillock they elongate. The fibrillae which 

 course independently through the axone are continuous with the fibril- 

 lae of the net. The author finds it impossible, however, to distin- 

 guish between the motor and sensory fibrils. He finds, also, that the 

 net in Helix is much more dense than it is in the nerve cells of Lum- 

 bricus. He interprets this as indicating a higher state of organization 

 in Helix, which would be, in respect to the degree of differentiation of 

 the intracellular net, intermediate between Liimbricus and the verte- 

 brates. Bochenek treats this net as "un reseau protoplasmatique." 



Van Gehuchten, in his earlier work ('97) upon the internal or- 

 ganization of the nerve cell, took the position that the ground sub- 

 stance of the cytoplasm consists of a fibrillar net suspended in an 

 amorphous fundamental substance. This net extends into the process 

 in the form of elongated meshes which superficially give the appear- 

 ance of distinct fibrils. These two elements are considered by van 

 Gehuchten "le veritable 2:)rotoplasme de la cellule nerveuse." The 

 net or organized part he homologizes with the "masse filaire" of 

 Flf.mming. In a later work ('98), published jointly with Nelis, van 

 Gehuchten quotes Flemming as coinciding perfectly with this 

 interpretation as given in 1897. The authors, however, proceed at 

 once to modify their interpretatation in certain details. They found 

 certain spinal ganglion cells of the rabbit which, because of the absence 

 of chromatic substance in the peripheral region, gave excellent ad- 

 vantages for studying the achromatic structure. In these cells, by the 

 use of toluidiu blue and erythrosin, they found the net to be made 

 up of granules united together by thin trabeculae of the same sub- 

 stance. But they add: "Le reseau protoplasmatique qui existe indu- 

 bitablement dans toutes nos preparations differe totalement des fibrille 

 courtes, flexueuses, irregulieres et independantes decretes et figurees 

 par Flemming." He believes also that the net differs clearly from 

 the net described by Dogiel and that it is much more regular than that 

 figured by Marinesco. 



In regard to the cone of origin, also, the authors have changed 

 their views slightly. Instead of the comparatively thick and regular 



