502 
walls, containing finely granular cell contents, a large oval nucleus 
2 u to 3 u in length, and showing in many cases a well marked net- 
work with one or more rounded nucleoli lying in its meshes. In 
regions of the body, as over the head, where there are few gland 
cells, the supporting cells are of the same breadth from the cuticle 
to the circular muscle layer (Fig. 2, Nos. 2 and 4); their nuclei are 
Fig. 2. Supporting cells. 1. Supporting cell between two distended gland cells. 
2. Cell from prostomium with long basal processes. 3. Heavy supporting cell from im- 
mediatly anterior to the growing zone. 4. Supporting cell from growing zone. No. 1 
from alcohol and haematoxylin preparation; the others in this figure from silver pre- 
parations, 
usually about midway the cell height; and from their bases short thin 
processes penetrate the muscle layer. In regions of many glands, by 
reason of their pressure, the supporting cells take on a conical or 
hour-glass shape (Fig. 2, No. 1). In cases where the body of the 
supporting cell is forced entirely away from the base of the epidermal 
layer by this pressure, the processes of the cell, retaining their hold 
upon the muscle layer, become much elongated (Fig. 2, No. 2). The 
base of the supporting cell may, in this way, be forced to midway 
the height of the cell layer. In such cases the nucleus lies at the 
lowest point in the body of the cell. All supporting cells, irrespective 
of their shape or relation to other cells of the epidermis, send basal 
processes into the muscle layers. 
Sense cells. 
The epidermal sense cells are the epidermal nervous structures 
and are found either isolated (Fig. 3 and Fig. 4, Nos. 4, 5, 6 and 7); 
or in loosely aggregated groups (Fig. 4, Nos. 1, 2 and 3, and 
