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VII. OF THE CONNECTION BETWEEN NERVES, 

 MUSCLES, AND OTHER TISSUES. 



NEITHER the physical relations between different tissues of 

 the body situated very near to one another at all periods of 

 growth, nor the nature of the connection between certain 

 tissues which appear to be structurally continuous, have yet 

 been conclusively determined. Detailed and exact informa- 

 tion upon these important points must, however, be 

 acquired before we can hope to obtain the solution of many 

 highly important problems which agitate physiologists, and 

 which have so far resisted the analytical efforts even of the 

 most successful of modern observers. 



As regards man and the higher animals we particularly 

 need to know, for instance, the nature of the relation, 

 structural as well as functional, between nerve and the 

 tissues upon which the nerve current operates. The 

 importance of this inquiry has been already referred to in 

 other places. Its determination will be followed by the 

 settlement of several important general questions. Unfor- 

 tunately it has not yet been conclusively proved, at least to 

 the satisfaction of a certain number of competent observers, 

 whether nerves really terminate in free ends, or in networks, 

 or end in other tissues, nor is it admitted that we know pre- 

 cisely in what manner nerves are influenced by external 

 agencies, or how they influence other tissues. 



