FINER STRUCTURE OF SYNAPSE 131 



acknowledge Cajal's supposition of a constant existence of a net- 

 structure, and he attributed this to a fault of Cajal's method. 

 With regard to the central endings of axones he formed an idea 

 that the contact concept must come from the miperfect staining 

 of the structurv^ referred to. Like Held, he recognized the recticu- 

 lar structure of the knobs and also believed he could demonstrate 

 neurofibrils entering the cell so as to constitute a continuity of 

 the neurones. In addition to this fibril continuity WolfT empha- 

 sized recently the existence of the plasmatic continuity between 

 nerve fibers and nerve cells, Bielschowsky and Wolff (11) ob- 

 served also a pericellular net-work, which resembles the 'Golgi 

 net.' They considered that it is formed by the mutual com- 

 munication of the fibrinous and plasmatic substances of the nerve 

 fibers and stated their opinion that it is probably a structure 

 identical with the Golgi net. 



According to the accurate investigation by Held (18, 19), the 

 Golgi net is directly continuous with the 'Fiillnetz' and they are 

 both of glious nature. Economo (15), Paladino (25), and others 

 confirmed this. As I mentioned above. Held (18) supposed the 

 existence of two kinds of pericellular net-work. Economo (16) 

 agreed with him. But this problem is not at all altered because 

 Heidenhain (16) described recently that he would consider the 

 Golgi net an artefact rather than a glious element. With regard 

 to the pericellular terminal net, he admitted so far only that 

 occasionally there exist sling-like loops within the arborization of 

 one and the same branch of nerve fiber. 



Despite many investigations, the theory of contact still opposes 

 the doctrine of the neurofibril continuity. Hedenhain (16) said 

 that one can undoubtedly deny the latter, declaring that the figures 

 by Held (17, 19, 20), Holmgren (22), Bielschowsky (9), and Wolff 

 (27) prove nothing at all and that with others (Cajal (12, 13), 

 Dogiel, (14), Retzius (27), Lenhossek (cited in 16)) he sought in 

 vain the continuity of nerve fibers and the cells in question. 

 In 1915 Bartelmez (4) studied the Mauthner cell of teleosts, 

 which had been investigated by Mayser^ and Becarri (5), and 



1 Zeitschrift f. wissenschaft. Zoologie, Bd. 36, 1882. 



