108 J. GORDON WILSON 



then back into a different nerve l)undle from the one it originally 

 came from. These fine or bulb pointed endings are the only ones 

 to be found in the epidermis. I have never seen any touch cor- 

 puscles. Lying in the connective tissue under the epidermis, 

 in close proximity to the subepithelial plexus, are the branched 

 endings shown in fig. 2. 



The submucous plexus, the inneres oberflachliches Geflecht 

 of Deinike, consists of interlacing fibers lying in the mucous layer 

 under the epithelial lining. In close relation to it are also branched 

 endings similar to those shown in fig. 2. 



The blood vessels are abundantly supplied by non-medullated, 

 varicose nerve fibrils. These enter along with the main vessels 

 both over the pars flaccida (Shrapnell's membrane) and at the 

 periphery and can be traced to the smaller vessels, forming the 

 well known vaso-motor plexuses. 



Contrary to the opinion of Kessel no ganghon cells are to 

 be seen anyw^here in the membrana tjrmpani. Such swellings as 

 at times appear after gold chloride impregnation are to be identi- 

 fied as nodal points or sheath cells. 



The close analogy between the nerve distribution in the mem- 

 brana tympani and the cornea was pointed out by Jacques. It 

 will be noted that we have the zonular plexus of the former cor- 

 responding to the annular plexus of the latter, the ground plexus 

 to the fundamental plexus, and a subepithelial and intra-epithelial 

 plexus in both. In a former paper ('07b) I ventured the following 

 remark: "One is tempted to carry the analogy further and to say 

 that as in the cornea pain and not touch appears to be the sensa- 

 tion evoked, so also in the membrana tympani one might expect 

 that the slightest pressure would evoke unpleasant sensations, 

 passing into pain, a fact well borne out by clinical observations." 

 Since then I have made many observations to test this hypothesis 

 and find that it is undoubtedly true. By lightly touching the 

 membrana tympani either with a small piece of cotton wool or a 

 fine hair mechanical stimulation from the threshold possesses 

 unpleasantness. My results have been briefly stated in a recent 

 paper ('10a), as follows : "if this membrane be touched with a fine 



