Huber-DeWitt, N euro-tendinous End-organs. 171 



end-organs obtained by Golgi, he regards as modifications of 

 Rollet's ^^ EndscJiollen" to be distinguished from the latter 

 largely by the fact that they are partially separated from the 

 contiguous tendon fasciculi by a sheath lined by endothelium 

 which he regards as a continuation of Henle's sheath of the 

 nerve terminating in the end-organ. Kerschner regards the 

 term '' otgani musculo-tendmei" as inappropriate, as these struc- 

 tures are not always found near the muscular end of the ten- 

 don. The tendon nerves, Kerschner states, do not end, as 

 Golgi and Cattaneo had stated, in a network of anastomosing 

 terminal fibrils, but in freely dividing and intercrossing branches, 

 which do not anastomose and often terminate in end-knobs, 

 which now and then appear to be in connection with cells found 

 by him within the end-organs. 



In 1888, 1889 and 1891, articles appeared from the pen 

 of Ciaccio, describing the results of his investigations with the 

 double chloride of gold method of Fischer and Lowit on the 

 nerve endings in tendons of mammalia, birds, reptilia, am- 

 phibia and fish. His researches are the most exhaustive and 

 his diagrams and descriptions are the most accurate and minute 

 that have appeared up to the present time, especially since, by 

 means of longitudinal and transverse sections of the tendon 

 corpuscle, he has observed and pictured the minute internal 

 structure of the organ, the details of the nerve ending and its 

 relation to the intrafusal tendon fibers in a way which is impos- 

 sible from mere surface preparations. For these reasons we 

 desire to give a somewhat more extended account of this au- 

 thor's work. 



He finds these nerve plaques (either encapsulated or not) 

 which he designates "plaques tendineuses avec terminaison 

 buissonneuse des nerfs a anneaux ou a spirale," in the tendons 

 of all vertebrates studied except the Batraciens anoures (frog, 

 toad and tree-toad), in which the nerve ending is free on the 

 primary tendon bundles and is of such form that he designates 

 it "buisson nerveux final." 



Ciaccio describes three peculiarities of the neuro-tendinous 

 organs of mammalia, not noticed by previous writers: (i) spin- 



