HuBER, Sensory Nerve-fibers in Visceral Nerves. 139 



seemed to me that these statements throw hght on some re- 

 marks which will follow. 



Nearly all observers who have investigated the sympathetic 

 ganglia, either with the chrome-silver or methylen blue method, 

 have called attention to the fact that in the sympathetic ganglia 

 and nerves, as also in the white rami, neuraxes of meduUated 

 nerves larger than the white rami fibers or sympathetic fibers 

 are to be found. These, as they have shown, pass through the 

 sympathetic ganglia without making connection with the sym- 

 pathetic neurones. That these neuraxes belong to the large 

 "sympathetic nerves" or large medullated nerves described by 

 Gaskell (i), Langley (3), and Edgeworth (4) there seems to me 

 to be no doubt. That the sympathetic receives larger medul- 

 lated fibers from the sensory ganglia is shown by the termina- 

 tion of these fibers and rests also on other data. 



Langley states that the white rami receive fibers from both 

 the anterior and posterior roots and Lenhossek has, in Golgi 

 preparations, traced sensory fibers to the sympathetic ganglia. 

 A statement which is found in Kolliker's (8) short account of 

 the sympathetic system is apropos in this connection : * ' The 

 sensory fibers of the sympathetic are finer and coarser elements 

 which have their origin in the spinal ganglia and are distributed 

 peripherally in the region of the sympathetic. They convey 

 the scanty sensory impressions which emanate from the several 

 organs. They are like certain sensory fibers in the somatic 

 sphere, as for instance, such as end in the Pacinian corpuscles 

 which in the mesentery have the same structure as those found 

 in the hand and foot. All medullated fibers found far out in 

 the periphery, i. e., those in the spleen nerves of the ruminants, 

 in the mesentery of the intestine, in the liver, etc. I regard 

 as sensory elements." KoUiker here indicates one mode of ter- 

 mination of the large medullated fibers of the sympathetic, 

 namely the Pacinian corpuscles. These, as is well known, are 

 numerous in the mesentery, in the peritoneum lining the pos- 

 terior portion of the abdominal cavity and in and around the 

 pancreas. That painful sensations may have their origin in the 

 Pacinian corpuscles would seem to be shown from observations 



