ELEMENTS OF NERVOUS TISSUE. 61 



The corpuscles of Pacini* are little ovoid, < r rather 

 ellipsoid bodies, attached by one extremity, by means 

 of a very delicate pedicle, to the nerves of the fingers 

 and toes. They consist of a central cavity inclosing 

 the extremity of a nerve fibre, and an external enve- 

 lope. This latter resembles the cornea in its struc- 

 ture ; it is made up of a number of amorphous 

 lamellae, overlay ing each other concentrically, between 

 which we find a great number of plasmatic nuclei 

 disposed in regular series (PL XIV. fig. II. 2). The 

 more superficial lamellae lose themselves on the sur- 

 face of the pedicle. The central cavity is filled with 

 a fine granular substance, in which the outlines of 

 very pale cells can sometimes be distinguished. Fi- 

 nally, in the central axis of the cavity is a nerve 

 fibre, which is remarkably pale, and, for this reason, 

 not easy to discover. By tracing it onward it is seen 

 to terminate in a slight bulb (PL XIV. fig. II. 4), 

 whilst below, it is found occupying the centre of the 

 pedicle, through which it is continuous with the ner- 

 vous twig on which the Pacinian corpuscle is situated. 

 Some authors have represented the nervous filament 

 as dividing, in the interior of the cavity of the cor- 

 puscle, into two or three terminal branches. 



Pacinian corpuscles are found also in other loca- 

 lities than in connexion with the nerves of the 

 fingers and toes. Kolliker has met with them in 

 connexion with the cutaneous nerves of the arm and 

 forearm, on the back of the hand and foot, and in 

 the terminal branches of the internal pudic, inter- 



* Nuovi organ! scoperti nel corpo umano del Dottore Filippo Pacini, 

 Pistoja, 1840. (Ed.} 



