438 



THE ORGANS 



receive the nerve terminations. These are known as compound tac- 

 tile cells, the axis cylinder ending in a flat tactile disc or discs between 

 the cells. 



Of the tactile corpuscles (Fig. 304) those of Meissner, which occur 





■;fr 



Fig. 304. Fig. 305. 



Fig. 304. — Tactile Corpuscles of Meissner, tactile cell and free nerve ending. (Mer- 

 kel-Henle.) a, Corpuscle proper, outside of which is seen in the connective-tissue cap- 

 sule, b, fibre ending on tactile cell; c, fibre ending freely among epithelial cells. 



Fig. 305. — Taste Bud from Circumvallate Papilla of Tongue. (^Merkel-Henle.) a, 

 Taste pore; b, nerve fibres entering taste bud and ending upon neuro-epithelial cells. 

 On either side fibres ending freely among epithelial cells. 



in the skin of the fingers and toes, are the best examples. These 

 corpuscles lie in the papillae of the derma. They are oval bodies, 

 surrounded by a connective-tissue capsule and composed of flattened 

 cells. From one to four medullated nerve fibres are distributed to 



Fig. 306. — End Bulb from Conjunctiva. (Dogiel.) a, Medullated nerve fibre, axone 

 of which passes ov'er into dense end skein. 



each corpuscle. As a fibre approaches a corpuscle, its connective- 

 tissue sheath becomes continuous with the fibrous capsule, the 

 medullary sheath disappears, and the fibrillar of the terminal abori- 

 zation pass in a" spiral manner in and out among the epithelial cells. 



