Literary Notices. cxxxix 



study of serial sections of reptilian brains, (2) the section of the bun- 

 dle in the pigeon and subsequent study by Marchi's method, this study 

 being supplemented by that of two of Professor Goltz's dogs one of 

 which had lost tr\e cerebrum, the other both the cerebrum and the stri- 

 atum of one side, (3) the study of a great number of Golgi prepara- 

 tions of reptilian brains to discover the character of the termini. In 

 the alligator fibres from the striatum terminate in the thalamus in the 

 following cell-clustres : (1) ganglion anterius thalami, characterized as 

 the point of origin for Viq d' Azyr's bundle to the mamillare, (2) the 

 great nucleus of the thalamus, so prominent in all reptilian brains 

 and differently named by various authors, (3) the nucleus diffusus 

 thalami lying between the two former, (4) the nucleus medius (?). The 

 corpus geniculatum laterale receives no such fibres. The Golgi 

 method shows that these fibres break up for the most part into term- 

 inal brushes which envelop cells, though there is reason to believe 

 that some fibres arise from cells in the thalamus and pass in the oppo- 

 site direction. 



The experiments on the pigeon lead to the same general conclu- 

 sions, as also do the dogs operated on by Professor Goltz. From the 

 study of the dog without cerebrum but retaining the striata Dr. Ed- 

 inger concludes that the capsula interna consists of at least three 

 kinds of fibres; (1) from the cortex to the thalamus, (2) from the cor- 

 tex to the pons and pyramids, (3) from the caudate and lenticular 

 nuclei to ganglia of the thalamus and mesencepalon. The latter can 

 in no case be traced beyond the mesencephalon and are always of 

 finer calibre than those of the two former classes. The fibres of the 

 ansa lentiformis ( Linsenkernschlinge ) and from the nucleus caudatus 

 correspond to the basal prosencephalic bundle of the lower verte- 

 brates. In the case of the dog deprived of both the cerebrum and 

 the striatum all of these fibres were degenerate. 



General Conclusion. The basal ganglion of vertebrates ( in mam- 

 mals divided into nucleus caudatus and lentiformis) originates a strong 

 fibre system, the basal prosencephalic bundle. This terminates in the 

 ganglia of the mesencephalon only. The nuclei of the thalamus and 

 of the regio subthalamica are by means of these fibres united most 

 intimately with the cerebrum. No fibres pass from the basal ganglia 

 farther caudad than the substantia nigra Sommeringi. 



The name Radiatio slrio-thalamica is proposed for this newly dis- 

 covered, but phylogenetically very ancient fibre system. 



