QUARTERLY CHRONICLE OF MICROSCOPICAL 
SCIENCE. 
Histology. Nerve.— Endings in Smooth Muscle.—W. 
Krause (Reichert und Reymond’s ‘ Archiv,’ April, 1870) 
describes the nerve-endings in the rectococcygeus muscle of 
the rabbit. Hénocque (‘Archives de Physiologie,’ May, 1870) 
describes the same in the muscular wall of the bladder. Both 
authors describe the end-organ as a swelling. Krause says 
with three or four nuclei, easily distinguished from the pro- 
per muscle nuclei; Hénocque says the swelling is frequently 
placed near the nucleus of a smooth muscular fibre. Krause 
remarks that whereas in striped muscular tissue each fibre 
has its own end-plate, in the smooth hundreds of muscle- 
spindles are dependent on one end-plate. This is as we 
should expect from the comparative structure of the striped 
fibre and the smooth cell. 
Endings in Gilands.—Kyrause (Reichert und Reymond’s 
‘ Archiv,’ April, 1870) cannot confirm Pfliiger as to the 
nerve-endings in the cells of salivary glands. He is of 
opinion that the use of weak acid in preparing gland-tissue 
may, Owing to the properties of the albuminoid constituents 
of the tissue, produce altogether erroneous results. 
Tactile Hairs of Mammatia.—-Odenius, who recently in- 
vestigated this point of histology, has stated that the nerves 
of the tactile hairs ended, after becoming non-medullated, 
with terminal enlargements i in the homogeneous layer of the 
papilla. In the annular swelling around their bases he was 
unable to find any nerves, and considered that it fulfilled 
only a mechanical function. In a paper in the ‘Centralblatt 
fiir die medicinischen Wissenschaften,’ Dr. R. Burkart states 
that the annular swelling consists, in the hairs of the muzzle 
of the mouse, guinea-pig, rabbit, and cat, of finely-fibrillated 
connective tissue, containing cells in its fine meshes. By the 
aid of a method which he intends shortly to publish, he has 
been able to stain nervous tissue of a bluish or coal-black 
tint, without modifying the connective tissue, gland sub- 
stances, &c. The agent employed is perosmic acid ; and he 
has ascertained not only that the annular swelling is sup- 
