SENSORY NERVE-ENDINGS. 171 



number of circular or spiral turns, some of which are parallel, others 

 crossing at various angles. These larger branches are all beset 

 with large, spindle-shaped, round, or pear-shaped varicosities. The 

 larger branches, after making the windings mentioned, break up 

 into many varicose branches, which interlace and form a most com- 

 plex network. One usually finds one or several larger naked axis- 

 cylinders, which pass up through the axis of the spiral of fibers 

 thus formed ; these give off branches which contribute to the spiral 

 formation. 



Genital Corpuscles. These corpuscles are found in the deeper 

 part of the mucosa of the glans penis and the prepuce of the 

 male and the clitoris and neighboring structures of the female. 

 Their shape varies ; they may be round, oval, egg- or pear- 



Fig. 138. Genital corpuscle from the glans penis of man ; methylene-blue stain 

 (Dogiel, "Arch. f. mik. Anat.," vol. XLI). 



shaped, or even slightly lobulated. Their size varies from 0.04 

 to o. 10 mm. in breadth and from 0.06 to 0.40 mm. in length. They 

 are surrounded by a relatively thick fibrous capsule, consisting 

 of from three to eight quite distinct lamellae, between which irregu- 

 lar flattened cells with round or oval nuclei are found. Within 

 this capsule, there is found a core, which seems to consist of a semi- 

 fluid substance, slightly granular in fixed preparations, the nature 

 of which is not fully known. The number of sensory nerves going 

 to each corpuscle varies from one to two for the smaller ones, and 

 from eight to ten for the larger corpuscles. The medullated nerves, 

 after entering the corpuscle, divide dichotomously, the resultant 

 branches assuming a circular or spiral course, and interlacing in 

 various ways, within the capsule. After a few turns, the medullated 



