OF THE SKIN. 12] 



(these last were also seen by Wagner), closely surrounds the 

 internal substance in which here and there similar corpuscles also 

 appear to be contained. Morphologically, then, such a cor- 

 puscle is by no means peculiarly constructed, but resembles the 

 axis of certain other papillae (e. g. of the sole of the foot), 

 which are surrounded by true elastic fibres, particularly their 

 often less-developed summits ; it is very similar, again, to the 

 bundles of connective tissue, with elastic fibres wound around 

 them, such as are found in the corium ; indeed, the difference 

 consists principally in this, that the axis-corpuscle contains 

 more undeveloped elastic tissue ; a circumstance easily compre- 

 hensible, since the papilla, as compared with the cutis itself, 

 consist altogether of a tissue which is in a more embryonic state. 

 With regard to their occurrence, axile corpuscles of the kind 

 here described occur only in certain papillae ; and, in fact, so 

 far as my investigations hitherto extend, only in those of the 

 palm and surface of the hand, the red edges of the lips, and the 

 tip of the tongue, not in those of the toes, thorax, back, glans 

 penis, nympha, and only rarely in those of the back of the hand 

 and of the sole of the foot. In the hand they appear especially 

 in the compound papillae, in particular cusps one or two 

 together, which may project more or less, and are sometimes 

 shorter, frequently longer ; they occur more rarely in the simple 

 papilla, as oval or cylindrical bodies, occupying § to § the width of 

 the summits of the papillae, and | to £, or as much as § the length. 

 In the points of the fingers they occur in the proportion of 1 to 

 every 2 — 4 papilla ; in the first phalanx, on the other hand, in 

 the length of 1"', only 2 — 6 are to be found, and in the palm 

 they are still more rare. Frequently the axile corpuscles exhibit 

 local constrictions, especially after the addition of acetic acid, or 

 are even spirally contorted, so that they often have a certain 

 similarity to a bundle of connective tissue treated in the same 

 way, or with a spiral sudoriparous duct. Upon the back of the 

 fingers and in the heel there appeared, in many individuals, to be 

 no axile corpuscles in the papillae ; in a small number, however, 

 they were to be found even here, but scattered and small, in a 

 few papillae. In the lips, I saw in two individuals axile corpuscles 

 similar to those in the hand, in one they were wanting. They 

 existed only in that part of the red margin of the lip, which is 

 visible when the mouth is closed ; they were very minute, and 



