368 The Microscope. 



sion, the stride fade away, and the material in which the nucleus is 

 imbedded, as well as the fibre beyond, is clear, except a few granules. 



In the sheep, ox, dog and pig, fibres frequently taper to within 

 2 mm. from the end, when lateral branches are given ofP at intervals 

 for the rest of the distance. Sometimes there is but one such 

 branch, and sometimes as many as five (ox). These branches may 

 be given off before the striae cease, in which case they are striated 

 themselves, and end in a swelling and nucleus, as above, or they may 

 be given off at the swelling, when they resemble in appearance the 

 tip of the fibre. In the latter case the branches are very 

 short. These tapering ends are applied to another fibre at a place 

 where it is of full size (6). The end seems to be retained in this 

 position by a sort of cell cement. No connective tissue has been 

 noted adhering to an end of this kind. 



In the ox, there is a kind of ending where, although the fibre 

 tapers, it does not come to a point. When a diameter of about .01 

 mm. is reached, a blunt end is formed, and connective tissue fibres 

 extend from the ends and sides of the ending along the side of an 

 adjacent full-size fibre for a distance of about .2 mm. This con- 

 dition was seen distinctly in but two cases. 



In the pig, only, were fibres found to end without first becom- 

 ing narrower, although tapering ends were also plenty. These 

 endings are of two kinds : In the first case, the branches are all 

 near the end, and may all be considered as terminal and in the 

 second case there is a thick lateral branch, after which the fibre 

 tapers and gives off' small branches as an ordinary tapering end. 



In the first case, the condition may be compared to the end of 

 a tree trunk that has been blown down and is shivered at the point 

 of fracture. At the end of the fibre are two to six branches that 

 separate into so many small branches as to resemble a brush. While 

 all of the primary branches may not arise from the end of the fibre, 

 they spring from the sides very near to the end. The primary 

 branches are striated, and the striae show for part of the length of 

 the secondary branches, when they fade out, leaving the apex clear. 

 How a fibre of this sort is attached to another I was unable to 

 determine. It does not seem at all likely that such a thick end 

 would be an overlapping end, and nothing was seen to favor this 

 view. All of the endings of this character found were surrounded 

 by more or less connective tissue. 



In the second class a large branch is given off .15 to .2 mm. 

 from the end of the fibre. This branch is short and simple, and is 

 divided at the end like the fibres of the first-class. The branch is 



