144 



NERVOUS TISSUES 



the Golgi preparations, probably include two distinct structures, the 

 glia cells and the glia fibers. 



Glia cells, as seen in sections prepared according to these methods, 

 appear as small cells with large and deeply staining nuclei. In the 

 small glia cells the cytoplasm is so slight as to form scarcely more than 

 a mere rim about the nucleus;. in the larger cells the cytoplasm is more 



FIG. 158. A LONG-RAYED ASTROCYTE. 

 Golgi's stain. Highly magnified. (After Berkley.) 



abundant and the processes larger and more numerous. The presence 

 of cytoplasmic processes gives the cell an irregularly stellate appearance. 



In Golgi preparations these processes can 

 not be distinguished from the dense net- 

 work of glia fibers with which they are 

 surrounded. 



The Glia Fibers. The glia fibers com- 

 prise numerous filiform fibrils which occur 

 as a dense network around the glia cells, 

 from which they radiate in all directions. 

 They pass alongside of, over, or under the 

 glia cells; their filaments have even been 

 described as passing entirely through the 

 cytoplasm of the cell. Nevertheless they 

 appear at all points to be anatomically dis- 

 tinct from the cell body. 



The relation of the glia cells to the fibers of neuroglia is perhaps 

 comparable to the arrangement in fibrous or reticular tissue. The fibers 



FIG. 159. A SHORT-RAYED 

 ASTROCYTE, OR MOSSY CELL. 



Golgi's stain. Highly mag- 

 nified. (After Berkley.) 



