330 H. M. BERNARD. 



framework (see fig. 13),^ so must the protomitomic filaments 

 of osseous and cartilaginous tissue pass through the inter- 

 stitial substance characteristic of them^ and the well-known 

 canals receive in this way a new meaning. 



But not only do the syncytial strands afford support merely 

 as a kind of scaffolding for the protomitomic system ; a much 

 closer kind of relationship is also formed. For the nuclear 

 fiUiments not only pass through the syncytial membranes; 

 they may also run in or on the same. This is the case with 

 the filaments in or on the walls of the rods, and with this we 

 compare the running of the primitive nerve-fibrils on the 

 supporting membranes of the retinal nerve-strands (see above, 

 page 321). Again, when the strands of the inner reticular 

 layer become matted and coarse-meshed, it seems as if the 

 protomitomic filaments must run along them, as I have seen 

 no sign of their passing through them. 



h. The Granular Cytoplasm. — This is the refractive 

 matter found massed irregularly around or on one side of the 

 nuclei of the innermost layer and of some of the nuclei of 

 the middle layer; the massing is always irregular, unless by 

 filling a chamber of the retinal syncytium it receives from 

 the latter a clear outline (see fig. 26). The same mass may 

 sometimes envelop or be associated with two or three nuclei^ 

 (fig. 26 m, and fig. 2 a). It is most frequently seen on the 

 distal side of the nucleus, and usually sends one or more 

 tongues down into the inner reticular layer as if it were 

 streaming away, which is especially the case when the tongues 

 have no sharp outlines (cf. figs, 2 a, 3 d, 7, 9, and 12, with 

 figs. 26 a —e, etc.). I regard these sharp outlines as due entirely 

 to the syncytial framework. The dispersal of the cytoplasm 



1 lu passing Uu'ougii a meinbrauc of tlie sjiicytial reticulum, tliey are often 

 bent at the point wliere they go through (see fig. 13). This bending may be 

 due to post-mortem strains, and suggests an adclitional cause for the rupture 

 of the filanieuts, if any other causes be required. For I am inclined to consider 

 that tlie balling of the luiclei owing to the action of tlie fixing reagent is 

 tlie chief reason for their disappearance from so many niicroscopic sections. 



^ This may be a possible explanation of Borysiekiewitz's twin "ganglionic 

 cells " (see ' Uutersuchungen,' p. 19). 



