CORPUSCLES OF PACINI, OR OF VATEK. 37 



concerning all of these various points, but with regard to the 

 terminal corpuscles, these differences are purely anatomical, 

 and do not materially affect the physiology of sensation. 

 "We do not propose, therefore, to enter fully into the discus- 

 sions upon these questions, and will simply present what 

 seem to be the most reasonable views of the latest and most 

 reliable observers. 



Corpuscles of Pacing or of Vater. These corpuscles, 

 which were the first discovered and described in connection 

 with the sensitive nerves, were called corpuscles of Pacini, 

 until it was shown that they had been seen about a century 

 and a half ago by Yater. Their actual mode of connection 

 with the nerves, however, has only been ascertained within 

 the last few years. The following are the measurements of 

 these bodies and the situations in which they are found, 

 taken from Kolliker : 1 



In man, these corpuscles are oval or egg-shaped, and 

 measure from ^j- to % of an inch in length. They are always 

 found in the subcutaneous layer on the palms of the hands 

 and the soles of the feet, and are most numerous on the 

 palmar surfaces of the fingers and toes, particularly the third 

 phalanges. In the entire hand there are about six hundred, 

 and about the same on the feet. They are sometimes, but 

 not constantly, found in the following situations : The dor- 

 sal surfaces of the hands and feet ; on the cutaneous nerves 

 of the arm, the forearm and the neck, the internal pudic 

 nerve, the intercostal nerves, all of the articular nerves of 

 the extremities, the nerves beneath the mammary glands, 

 the nerves of the nipples, and in the substance of the 

 muscles of the hands and feet. They are found without ex- 

 ception on all of the great plexuses of the sympathetic sys- 

 tem, in front of and by the sides of the abdominal aorta, and 

 behind the peritoneum, particularly in the vicinity of the 



1 KOLLIKER, Elements d'histologie humaine, Paris, 1868, p. 141. 



