Huber-DeWitt, Nrnro-tendinous End-organs. 169 



ciding that, while these different forms of nerve endings are 

 often found very near together and while he even occasionally 

 finds Pacinian corpuscles incorporated in the substance of the 

 tendon spindle, yet the nerve supply is always distinct and he 

 believes that the relation is accidental. 



In order to decide the question of the function of the neuro- 

 tendinous spindles, Cattaneo undertook a brief series of degen- 

 eration experiments. In the first set of experiments, he sec- 

 tioned the posterior roots, causing an ataxic gait, but no degen- 

 eration of the neuro-tendinous spindles was found and he con- 

 sidered these experiments as negative. 



In the second set, he sectioned the anterior roots, causing 

 paralysis of the posterior extremities and degeneration of the 

 muscle fibers and nerves supplying them, while the neuro-ten- 

 dinous spindles and their nerves were unaltered. In the third 

 set of experiments he sectioned the sciatic nerves and found 

 that the intrafusal tendon fibers were reduced in size and other- 

 wise altered, a long time after the operation, while the nerve 

 supplying the spindle showed the usual degeneration phenom- 

 ena soon after section of the nerve, the termination of the non- 

 meduUated fibers in the spindle being still more radically and 

 quickly altered. From these facts and from their position in 

 the boundary zone between muscle and tendon, the author con- 

 cludes that these organs are sensory and probably organs of 

 muscle sense. 



Apropos of Cattaneo's degeneration experiments, it may 

 not be amiss to mention briefly Brazzola's investigations on 

 tabes dorsalis, in which he examined for pathological lesions, 

 not only the central nervous system, but also some peripheral 

 nerve endings — among them the neuro-tendinous end-organs. 

 He finds the ultimate portion of the nerve fiber going to the 

 plaque altered and also the ramifications of the axis cylinder. 

 Only the "bush-like terminations in ring or spiral" of Ciaccio 

 remain, very much atrophied and these too finally disappear. 



In the fifth edition of his Handbuch der GewebeJehre, 

 KoUiker mentions having observed nerves in the tendons of the 

 bat. The details concerning their mode of ending seem, how- 



