Rotjal Miorosco^ical Society. 163 



granular must clearly be pronounced nerves." And,* 



" In all cases, as far as I can ascertain, the ultimate terminal fibres 

 are pale and granular, exhibiting nuclei at varying intervals." For 

 in a recently-published paper,t which is stated to have been read 

 before this Society on 6th December, 1871, he admits that his delicate 

 nerve fibres are compound, that they are fibrillar, and that the nuclei 

 are usually "situated more or less on one side." We see therefore 

 that he here withdraws from his previously-expressed opinions, 

 although he uses the same Plate % to illustrate his new views, which 

 had already done service in illustrating the old ones.§ 



He partly abandons also his former ^dews, and of this I am 

 very glad, as he admits that || "it is quite possible that there may 

 be still finer fibres." This encourages me to hope that by the use 

 of the above-described method of staining with chloride of gold, he 

 will be led entirely to abandon his views about the fine nerve fibres 

 of the sub-epithelial network of the cornea of mammals, about fine 

 nerve fibres among the epithelial cells, and about the presence of 

 nuclei (bioplasts, or germinal matter). In this last paper of Beale's, 

 where he now admits that the delicate nucleated nerve fibres are 

 still compound and fibrillar, and by doing so only confirms what 

 was already known years ago, even from the study of fresh prepa- 

 rations alone, he asserts that the fibrillar structure is to be seen in 

 his preparations, and not in gold or osmium preparations. This I 

 must call a gross error, because on the one hand, as I have pointed 

 out, the very same preparations of his, which, until 1868, had only 

 a granular appearance, in February, 1872, appeared fibrillar. On 

 the other hand, it has been shown in several cases that, both in 

 gold and in osmium preparations, fine non-medullated nerve fibres, 

 which spring off from the plexus of nucleated fibres, still show a 

 fibrillar structure. 



I agree with Beale up to a certain point when he says that in 

 general with his method (carmine and glycerine) he is not able to 

 demoDstrate more than the plexus of nucleated non-medullated 

 nerve fibres, although I have been in the agreeable position of 

 ascertaining on one of his own preparations of the cornea, that his 

 view that the nucleated fibres are the finest and ultimate, by no 

 means agrees with the facts. 



By the help of the gold method we are able to show with cer- 

 tainty that all hypothetical objections, based upon the probability 

 or improbability of the existence of nr^rve fibres among epithelial cells, 

 vanish completely, as they are at uuce exploded by simple observa- 

 tion of the facts. 



* ' How to Work with the Micr.,' 4th edit., 1868, p. 332. 

 t 'Mon. Micr. Jour.,' Feb., 1872, p. 47. 

 X PI. VI., ' Mon. Micr. Jour.,' Feb. 



§ ' Philosoph. Transact.,' 18G3, pi. xl., fig. 43. |1 ' Mon. Micr. Jour.,' p. 4G. 

 VOL. V7T. N 



