Shinkishi Hatai 



As was pointed out by Held (1897), the neurosome is not only found imbedded within 

 the filament, but appears also in the meshes between the filaments. The neurosomes 

 in the region of the terminal end of the axis cylinder are very much larger than those 

 found in the rest of the neurone (Plate XIII, Fig. 1). 



As has already been mentioned, the meshes formed by the filaments are highly 

 variable both in size and in shape. Generally, in the clear zone at the periphery of 

 the cell-body, the meshes are larger and more conspicuous than in the remaining part. 

 In the neighborhood of the axone hillock the meshes are not only much diminished in 

 siae, but they are also elongated. Around the nucleus these meshes reach a minimum 

 size. The form of the reticulum at the periphery shows meshes of a somewhat poly- 

 gonal shape, but in the remaining part of the cell these meshes are elongated, especially 

 around the nucleus and near the axone hillock. These modified meshes present a 

 fibrillar appearance, especially those around the nucleus as well as in the neighbor- 

 hood of the axone hillock, owing to the alteration which has been described ; that is, 

 the elongation of the meshes diminishes the original space contained between the 

 filaments and renders the filaments approximately parallel. In some cases several of 

 these filaments unite together and form very thick strands. These secondary altera- 

 tions take place throughout the cell-body and around the nucleus, but never occur at 

 the periphery of the cell. Thus, the fibrillar structures as well as the fibrillar network 

 within the cell-body are produced. These fibrils, therefore, are very different from those 

 described by ApMhy and Bethe. According to Golgi (1898) and others, a modified 

 silver-nitrate technique brings out a new structure within the nerve-cells. This 

 structure presents very complicated network around the nucleus, and to this the name 

 " endocellular network" has been given. It seems probable that the endocellular net- 

 work just mentioned may be one expression of the elongated meshes of the fibrillar 

 substance observed by the writer. Since Golgi's technique does not bring out the 

 very minute structures, the figures obtained by him are only a fragment of the network 

 which we have described. I will take up this point later on and will present the evi- 

 dence I have for identifying this endocellular network with the structure to be seen 

 within rats' nerve-cells. 



Among the neurologists, two different views concerning the structure of the 

 ground substance in the nerve-cells are held : These may be designated a^ ( 1 ) the 

 fibrillar, and (2) the non-fibrillar or reticular. These two appearances in the proto- 

 plasm have been brought out by using different techniques. Ap&,thy (1895) demon- 

 strated the fibrillar structure in the annelid nerve-cells by using gold chloride ; Bethe 



(1897) in the Crustacea, killed with nitric acid and stained with toluidin blue; Cox 



(1898) by osmic acid ; Flemming (1895) by his own fixing agent; Dogiel by methylen 

 blue; Becker (1895) by Weigerts' copper and hsematoxylin stain; Kronthal (1895) by 

 staining freshly crushed and dried specimens with methylen blue, etc., while the reticular 

 stiucture was obtained by Butchli, Held, Lenhoss^k, Van Gehuchten, Cajal, and others, 

 using either strong alcohol, corrosive sublimate, Gilson's mixture, or Carnoy's solution. 



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