OBSERVATIONS ON THE HISTOLOGY OF STRIPED MUSOLE. 73 



is interfibrillar material has not sufficient evidence for it to be 

 accepted. I shall therefore, in accordance with the results of 

 Retzius, Bremer, Melland, Carnoy, Haswell, Macallura, and 

 myself, assume that the former view represents the true 

 structure of striped muscle. 



The present paper deals with the following points : 



1. The connection of the transverse networks with the 

 muscle-corpuscles. 



2. The development of the network. 



3. The connection of the nerve-ending with the network. 



Connection of Network with Muscle-corpuscles. 



It was shown by Retzius^ that the transverse portions of the 

 muscle network were directly connected with the muscle- 

 corpuscles. He states that the protoplasm of the muscle- 

 corpuscle is produced into several processes from which finer 

 processes arise forming the transverse networks. Retzius^ 

 results were obtained by a modification of gold staining. 

 The fresh muscle-fibre was first placed in a 1 per cent, solution 

 of formic acid for a few seconds, then in gold chloride ^ — ^ 

 per cent, for twenty-five minutes, then in formic acid 1 per 

 cent., and exposed to light for 10 — 20 hours. 



By a special method of staining I have been able to confirm 

 Retzius' results, and have made specimens showing the un- 

 doubted connection of the transverse networks with the 

 muscle-corpuscles. 



Method of Preparation. — The method of staining I 

 adopted is a modification of that employed by Mays for 

 demonstrating nerve-endings in muscle. He uses the follow- 

 ing solution : 



Arsenic acid i per cent 20 parts. 



Gold chloride 1 per cent ... 4 „ 



Osmic acid 2 per cent 1 ,, 



This solution although it preserves the nerve-endings disinte- 

 grates the muscle-fibre. This I found was due to the arsenic 



' Zur Kenntniss der Q,uer£'estreiftec Muskelfaser,' Biologisclie Unter- 

 suchungen, 1881. 



