228 



THE NERVOUS SYSTEM 



Through this pedicle passes a single (occasionally more) nerve 

 fiber which, piercing the several concentric layers constituting 

 the corpuscle, gradually loses its myeline substance and runs 

 longitudinally through the center of the body to terminate at 

 the distal end of the central cavity in a knob-like enlargement. 

 These corpuscles are found in great abundance on the palmar 

 and plantar surfaces of the hands and feet, being far more 

 numerous on the first phalanx of the index finger than elsewhere. 

 About six hundred are said to be present in each hand and foot. 

 They are also to be found on the dorsal surfaces of the hands 

 and feet, over parts of the forearm, arm and neck, in the nipples, 

 in the substance of muscles, in all the great plexuses of the sym- 

 pathetic system, and in numerous 

 other situations. These bodies can- 

 not be considered true tactile corpus- 

 cles because they are situated beneath 

 the skin ; neither can they be positively 

 said to have any " special sensory" 

 function such as the appreciation of 

 temperature, weight, etc. 



(b) The end bulbs of Krause exist 

 human conjunctiva, treated in great number in the conjunctiva, 

 with osmic acid, showing the glans penis and clitoris, the lips, 

 cells of core. (From Yeo and in other situations . They bear 

 after Longworth.) 



-. , , , some resemblance to the corpuscles 



a, nerve fiber; b, nucleus of 



sheath; c, nerve fiber within o f Pacint, but are much less elaborate 



core; a, cells of core. 



in their arrangement; the number 



of concentric layers is much smaller, while the contained 

 mass is larger. The shape is spherical. From one to three 

 medullated fibers pass from the underlying plexus to wind 

 through the corpuscle and break up in free extremities. The 

 sheath of the fiber is continuous with the outer covering of the 

 corpuscle, and the medulla is gradually lost as the fiber enters 



FIG. 71. End bulb from 



