Royal Microscopical Society. 9 



work at the extremity of the mole's nose give oflf fibres which may- 

 be traced to adjacent capillaries. 



3. Branches from the nerve fibres ramifying over the minute 

 arteries may be frequently followed from these to the capillary 

 vessels. 



4. In the case of the striped muscles of the chameleon's tongue, 

 I have succeeded in following a fine fibre from the so-called nerve 

 tuft to the neighbouring capillary vessels. 



5. In the muscular coat of the frog's bladder, in that of the 

 oviduct, and in the muscular coat of the small intestine, the fine 

 nerves form an intricate interlacement, some fibres of which are 

 distributed to the muscles, while others ramify upon the little 

 arteries, veins, and capillaries. 



These nerve fibres distributed to the finest capillaries of many 

 tissues have therefore been traced from ganglia, from sensitive and 

 motor nerve trunks, from the jperipheral ramifications both of 

 sensitive and motor nerves, and they are intimately related to the 

 ultimate ramifications of some of the nerves of special sense. 



These anatomical facts suggest many considerations bearing 

 upon the mode of action of the peripheral portion of nerve fibres, 

 but the subject is too extensive to discuss in this paper. It may 

 form the subject of a separate memoir. 



MetJiod of Demonstration. — I have already described the 

 method pursued in the preparation of the specimens. It is that 

 which I have followed for more than ten years, and which in my 

 hands has been most successful.* I feel sure that it is capable of 

 further improvement in practical details, and that, upon the prin- 

 ciples which I have laid down, delicate structures, which have not 

 yet been seen by man, will be demonstrated by patient and well- 

 practised observers. The process is troublesome, and for this 

 reason it has not been in much favour. In these days investiga- 

 tion must be conducted with such haste, and new facts discovered 

 so quickly, that there is little chance of getting many persons to 

 spend sufficient time in mere practice to enable them to gain the 

 requisite skill for the very much more minute investigation of the 

 structure of the most delicate textures which is now so much 

 required, and which must be carried out before we can hope to 

 arrive at positive conclusions on fundamental anatomical questions 

 of the greatest importance. 



*^* The probable mode of action of the nerves described in this communica- 

 tion will be considered in the Second Part of the memoir, which will be published 

 in the next (February) number of the Journal. 



* ' How to Work with the Microscoi^e.' 4th Edition. ' The Physiological 

 Anatomy and Physiology of Man.' By Dr. Todd and Mr. Bowman. Second 

 Edition. By Dr. Beale. Part I., page 57. 



