( 454 ) 



In this year (1907) Bielschowsky ^) has investigated the nerves 

 of the organ of Eimer by means of his method of staining the 

 neiirofibrillae, and although he does not give much that is new, as 

 he says himself in his paper, his study is interesting because with 

 that by Botezat it is the only one, in which the new staining 

 methods for the nervous system are used for this organ. We may 

 quote here what he says about the course and the peculiarities 

 of the nerve-fibres, because this makes clear his opinion better 

 than a long description. The course of both the axial fibre and the 

 randfibres he assumes to be entirely intercellular: "irgend ein niiherer 

 Konnex der Fasern zu den Epithelzellen findet nicht statt; ihr Ver- 

 lauf ist ein rein intercellularer. Im Bereiche der ausseren Schicht 

 weisen sie in scheinbar regel massigen Abstanden die bekannten punkt- 



formigen Varikositaten auf Die Varikositaten sind offenbar 



nur auf Zerfallsvorgange zurückzuführen. Dafür spricht der ümstand, 

 dass sie immer erst in der Verhornungszóne des Epithels deutlich 

 hervortreten. Aehnliche Beobachtungen kann man auch am Schweine- 

 riissel and anderen rüsselformigen Saugerschnauzen machen". (I.e. 

 p. 189). 



In his last paper, published some months before the paper by 

 Bielschowsky appeared (April 1907), Botezat') who in his paper 

 of 1903 pronounced the same opinion as Eimer and Huss, viz. that 

 the knoblike thickenings of the nerve fibres penetrate into the cells 

 of the column of Eimer, adopts the view that they are epicellular, 

 after a study of the nerves coloured with methylene blue and after 

 the method of Ramon y Cajal. "Der Beweis hierfür lasst sich am 

 besten dadurch erbringen, dass man die Terminalknöpfchen fast genau 

 zwischen den Zeilen des Organs liegen sieht." Botezat states that 

 the varicosities possess a netlike structure. Because they are exces- 

 sively small, the extreme sensibility of the snout must be due to 

 the very large number of the terminal knobs ("tactile discs") and 

 not to their great perceptibility. A column of Eimer consists of about 

 15 layers of cells, and in each layer about 20 of these tactile knobs 

 are to be found. The total number therefore is in each organ of 

 Eimer 300, and for the entire snout more than 100000'). According 



1) M. Bielschowsky, Ueber sensibele Nervenendigungen in der Haut zweier Insec- 

 tivoren (Talpa europaea und Centeles ecaudatusj. Anat. Anzeiger. Bd. 31, p. 187 

 —194, 1907. 



2) EuGEN Botezat. Ueber die epiderraoidalen Tastapparate in der Schnauze des 

 Maulwurfs etc. Archiv fur Mikroskopische Anatomie. Bd. 61. p. 730 — 764. 1908. 



3) EuGEN Botezat. Die fibrillare Stiuktur von Nervenendapparaten in Hautgebilden. 

 Anat. Anzeiger. Bd. 30. p. 321—344. 1907. 



