234 



PHYSIOLOGY OF CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM. 



drites of the Purkinje cells as well as with the cells of the molecular 

 layer. A few larger nerve cells of Golgi's second type (/) are found 

 also in the granular layer. In the molecular layer are found two 

 types of cells: the larger basket cells (b) whose axons terminate in a 

 group of small branches that inclose the body of the Purkinje cells, 

 and a number of smaller cells (e), situated more superficially, 

 whose axons pass longitudinally in the molecular layer and termi- 

 nate in arborizations or baskets that doubtless make connections 

 with the dendrites of the Purkinje cells. 



Fig. 103. Histology of the cerebellum. (From Obersteiner.) 



A consideration of this peculiar and intricate structure enables 

 us to comprehend that the cerebellar cortex presents a reflex arc 

 of a very considerable degree of complexity. The incoming im- 

 pulses through the moss and climbing fibers may pass at once to the 

 Purkinje cells and lead to efferent discharges, or they may end in 

 the cells of the granular or molecular layer and thus be distributed 

 to the Purkinje cells in a more indirect way. In addition to the 

 cortex the cerebellum contains several masses of gray matter in 

 its interior: the large dentate nucleus in the center of each hemi- 

 sphere and the group of nuclei lying in or near the middle of the 

 medullary substance of the vermiform lobe (nucleus fastigii, n. 

 globosi, and the n. embolif ormis) . The axons of the Purkinje 



