46 



scribed. It may be regarded as the form from which all 

 the other special senses have developed, certain portions 

 of the body having become more sensitive than others 

 to certain vibrations, as the eye to those of light. The 

 internal organs probably have little sense of touch. 



Touch is useful only within arm's reach but there 

 gives one a sense of space that sight does not give. It is 

 practically determined by the touch corpuscles, which are 

 found in the skin over almost the entire body, though 



.v :*_-_-. .1 Nerve fiber. 



j- Nerve fiber. 



Capsule. 



\KV 



_ Nerve fiber. 



Nerve fiber. 



FIGS. 13, 14. Meissner's corpuscle from man; X750. (Bohm, Davidoff, and 

 Huber.) 



they are more numerous in some places than in others, 

 the distribution of the corpuscles determining the 

 sensitiveness of the skin. These touch corpuscles are 

 protoplasmic bodies containing nuclei, about which are 

 entwined filaments from the cutaneous nerves. Where 

 the corpuscles are absent the filaments of the cutaneous 

 nerves themselves play an important part. The finger 

 tips have a very delicate sense of touch and the tip of the 

 tongue is the most sensitive part of the body. Hence 

 spaces in the mouth seem larger than elsewhere. By the 



