THE NEUROGLIA 77 



tendon. They are fusiform in shape and are flattened upon the surface of 

 the tendon close to its insertion into the muscular fibers. They are composed 

 of a granular substance, enveloped in several concentric hyaline membranes 

 which contain some nuclei. The nerve fiber passes into this little corpuscle, 

 splitting itself up into fine terminals. The corpuscles of Golgi are believed 

 to be related to the muscular sense, figure 104. 



THE NEUROGLIA. 



The neuroglia, while not a nervous tissue, is closely mingled with it and 

 forms an important constituent of the nervous system. It consists of cells 

 giving off a fine network of richly branching fibers. Neuroglia is a form 

 of connective tissue, and it is in its functions strictly comparable to the con- 

 nective tissue which supports the special structures of other organs, like the 

 lungs and kidneys, figure 106. In the adult animal the neuroglia-tissue is 

 composed of cells from which are given off immense numbers of fine processes. 

 These extend out in every direction, and intertwine among the nerve-fibers 

 and nerve-cells, figure 105. The neuroglia cell differs in size and shape 

 very much in different parts of the nervous system in accordance with the 

 arrangement of the nervous structures about it. The cell is composed of 

 granular protoplasm, and lying in it is a large nucleus, within which is a 

 nucleolus. The body of the cell is small in proportion to the nucleus. 



