4 S. B. VINCENT 



may be due to the augmented vascular supply to this place or 

 to the stimulating effect of the many nerves which have their 

 terminations here. The outer layers of these cells lie upon the 

 leaf-like terminal expansions of the nerves and are connected in 

 some intimate way with their functioning. 



The ringwulst grows out of the root sheath. It appears as a 

 somewhat oval shaped body projecting into the ring sinus. In 

 prepared sections it is alwaj^s much shrunken, but in its expanded 

 state it must nearly fill the space between the walls of the diver- 

 ticulum in which it lies (fig. 6). It is composed of connective 

 tissue fibers (fig. 7) — fibro-hyalin in the rat — which enclose in 

 their meshes great, clear, round, transparent cells with pale 

 nuclei. It is penetrated in every part by loops of capillaries and 

 by delicate varicose nerves. The nerves are not only distributed 

 to the organ itself but also many of the larger nerve trunks which 

 terminate in the superior enlargement of the root sheath perforate 

 the substance of this body on their way thither. 



The conical body is the name given to an enlargement of the 

 root sheaths above the sebaceous gland. It is really no separate 

 structure, but here the follicle layers are fused and it is simply 

 that portion of the follicle walls nearest the surface of the skin. 

 Many nerves and blood vessels pass through it on their way to 

 the lower parts of the follicle. It has a muscular formation 

 which probably indicates its chief function (fig. 1). 



The lower sinus is sometimes called the cavernous sinus or 

 sometimes this part of the follicle is named from the tissue which 

 fills it, the spongiose body. The space is crossed by dehcate 

 cordons of connective tissue which enclose lacunal cavities. These 

 are found filled with blood if the animal be killed without bleed- 

 ing. The amount of blood is so great that good stained sec- 

 tions are impossible to obtain unless the blood has been drawn. 

 The connective tissue network extends as far as the ringwulst 

 and upon it and among it are found fine nerve fibers and small 

 blood vessels. It is so tender of fiber that in injecting or in 

 sectioning it is inevitably destroyed and one sees, usually, only 

 broken fragments with here and there a few intact interlacing 

 strands from which one must imagine the whole (fig. 8). The 



