136 MUSCLE. 
instance, when simply torn, separate into microscopic particles, 
which have an almost similar length. The same takes place, 
according to C. H. Schultz, during the digestion of muscle in 
the stomach, and, according to Purkinje, in muscle which is 
exposed to the action of an artificial digestive fluid. The 
observations of Valentin, already mentioned, admit, however, 
of no other explanation than that previously given ; and the 
history of the period of formation deficient in my researches 
(from the cause before stated) may be completed from his. 
According to him, “ globules of the primitive mass, arranged 
longitudinally, in a linear series, are present previous to the 
muscular fibres. The granules, then, seem to draw somewhat 
nearer together, and to coalesce, at some parts completely, at 
others, on the contrary, only on the one or other side. In 
this manner threads are formed, which present at some spots 
the appearance of strings of pearls, whilst at others they 
are less sharply indented ; they are also often seen to be still 
wrinkled on one side, while on the other their margin is 
already nearly a straight lime. The expression “ granules of 
the primitive mass” (Urmasse), or other similar terms, have 
been hitherto used to denote either the elementary cells 
themselves or their nuclei, indiscriminately ; mm consequence 
of the distinction between them, and their relation to each 
other being unknown. In the passage quoted, Valentin can- 
not have meant the nuclei, for, as we have seen, they do not 
coalesce. What he calls globules of the primitive mass must, 
therefore, be the elementary cells furnished with their nuclei, 
and in their earliest stage of development ; that is, before they 
have undergone any transformation. ‘The following arguments 
may likewise be adduced in favour of the correctness of the 
explanation which assumes these “ globules of the primitive 
mass” to be cells. In the first place, the structure formed by 
their coalescence, namely, the primitive fasciculus of muscle, 
is hollow; and, secondly, in the early stage of development of 
the fasciculi, the cell-nuclei lie just so closely together, as 
they would if each nucleus had pertained to a previously round 
cell. If these nuclei were subsequent formations, generated 
in the primitive fasciculus of muscle, as in a cell, they ought 
to be more numerous in old than in young muscles. 
It, therefore, seems scarcely to admit of a doubt, that 
