520 'Journal of Comparative Neurology and Psychology. 



Taking up first the alleged independence of the nerve elements 

 in embryological origin, attention is called to the fact that the 

 classical results of His upon which this teaching is so largely based 

 were reached by the use of ordinary histological methods and that 

 the application of the silver methods reveals a much more complex 

 structure. Besides evidences brought out by the Golgi method 

 of intercellular connections in very early stages, we have the ac- 

 counts of the pluricellular origin of nerve cells, and of the origin 

 of nerve fibers by cellular concatenation, both of w hich, if confirmed, 

 would be contrary to the doctrine of the neurone. The results 

 of the most recent studies on nerve regeneration are also interpreted 

 by Professor Golgi in harmony with the conclusion that the em- 

 bryological independence of neurones is unproved. 



Fig. I. Structure of the fascia dentata of the hippocampus, as figured by Professor Golgi. 

 From Archivio di Fisiologia, vol. 4, fasc. 3, March, 1907, p. 202, by permission of the publishers. 



On the question of the cellular independence of the adult neu- 

 rone the well known views of the author are reaffirmed and refer- 

 ence is again made to the overshadowing importance of the rete 

 nervosa diffusa as a morphological and physiological entity, the 



