642 HUBER. [Vol. XI. 



lumen of the artery, the elastic tissue of which had not been 

 fully absorbed. A number of small branches left the artery 

 through small openings in its wall, and were lost in the sur- 

 rounding tissue. Before removing the nerves they were tested 

 with an induction current and showed conductivity. Biinger 

 concludes : " Dass die Regeneration grosserer Nervenstrecken 

 nach Resection unter der Bedingung leicht zu Stande kommt, 

 wenn denen von beiden Enden neugebildeten Fasern der Weg 

 und die Richtung gewiesen wird." It is not necessary at this 

 place to again discuss the question whether or not regeneration 

 of the peripheral end from the peripheral nerve fibre can occur. 

 Biinger has, as far as I am able to ascertain, not studied 

 experimentally the fate of the peripheral end after resection. 

 He would have us believe, basing the assumption on observa- 

 tions made by him on degenerating and regenerating nerves 

 after simple section, that, after resection, there is regeneration 

 of the fibres in the peripheral portion from the proliferated 

 protoplasm and nuclei of the degenerating nerves. In four of 

 the author's experiments, where five, ten, twenty-two, and 

 fifty-four days elapsed between the operation and examination, 

 the peripheral stump was in process of degeneration or com- 

 pletely degenerated ; nothing that would point to a regenerative 

 process in the peripheral nerves was observed. I therefore 

 believe that I am justified in hesitating to accept Biinger's 

 conclusions until they receive further corroboration. 



The literature bearing on this subject is further enriched by 

 experiments reported by Notthaft and Willard. 



The former in two cases exsected yi ctm. from the sciatic of a rabbit, 

 and united the ends with a segment taken from the aorta of a rabbit. No 

 regeneration was observed after fifty days. The latter resected the sciatic 

 of an old Newfoundland dog for }( of an inch, and inserted «^ of an inch 

 of the two resected ends into a decalcified bone tube, retaining the same in 

 position by catgut sutures. In ten days the dog was killed, and it was 

 found that the tube had entirely disappeared, and no regeneration had 

 taken place. 



The early absorption of an implanted bone tube was also 

 noticed by me in experiments of short duration, and is, of 

 course, an objection to this method. The tubes used in the 



