Huber-DeWitt, Neuro-iendinous End-organs. 173 



scribed, but a plexus of fine fibers which end in a bush-like ex- 

 pansion of small varicose nerves {'' iouffe nerveuse finale") of 

 which the greater number penetrate the primary tendon group 

 and probably end free without surrounding the bundles. 



In the fish, which only he and Pansini have studied, he has 

 examined the tail and fin tendons of the ray, the tench and the 

 carassin. He finds medullated nerves ending free, more or less 

 deeply in the tendon, in peculiar plaques, simple or compound, 

 formed of axis cylinders in the form of turns of ribbon ending 

 in a ''ligneen relief or *' cfete d'empreinte," which is more 

 deeply stained in gold chloride than the rest of the ending. 

 Each turn of the ribbon corresponds to a turn of the axis cylin- 

 der which surrounds one or several of the small secondary ten- 

 don bundles. 



Concerning the function of the neuro-tendinous end-organs, 

 the author considers the sensory nature proven both by the 

 microscopic anatomy and by physiological experiment. The 

 special function being, however, still unsettled, the author ad- 

 vances the view that it is "to proportion the amount of disten- 

 sion and resistance of the tendon to the amount of contraction 

 of the corresponding muscle," supporting his view by the fact 

 that the most frequent site of these organs is in the tendons of 

 the most active and efficient muscles. 



In 1890, Mazzoni described and figured certain forms of 

 terminal nerve organs found in the tendons of man. Similar 

 organs had been mentioned by Golgi and Ciaccio and were 

 afterwards noted by Ruffini, the two latter finding them in the 

 tendons of other mammalia than man. These are often found 

 in more or less intimate connection with the neuro-tendinous 

 end-organs and may .therefore be mentioned in this connection. 

 In their simplest form, where a single nerve fiber enters and 

 passes unbranched through the encapsulated granular substance, 

 ending in a terminal enlargement, they closely resemble small 

 Pacinian corpuscles. In the more complicated forms, however, 

 where a single branched nerve or several independent nerves 

 enter the granular substance and break up into many branches, 

 forming a twisted, network-like mass, each filament ending in a 



