70 



not-a^i, but fe* in number, an;.i thoss prssant are scittered be- 

 tifssn ths nerve-fibres. The externnl iiorpholo^y of one of 

 these neurones is representel in Fig. 14. Prorn a small, almost 

 perfectly spherical cell-body, three or four ienJrites raiiate, 

 branching in what is an approach to a dichotomous nanner. The 

 dendrites are not thick at their bases and they become lost 

 to view before proceeding far, owing to the fineness of the 

 terninal t.*ig3. The surface of a dendrite is almost perfectly 

 smooth, there being only the faintest indication of gemmules, 

 but there are small varicosities at irregular intervals which 

 proluce slight variations in the thickness. 



The internal organization of the cell presents a large, 

 rounded nucleus .vhich is enveloped by a stratum of cytoplasm 

 of no great thickness (fig, 50). The cytoplasm contains ti- 

 groid substance distributed in granules of the most minute size, 

 mere points even when highly magnified. The chromatin is dis- 

 tributed along a linin reticulum of such fine mesh that the 

 nucleus is thereby often made to appear almost perfectly black. 

 There is a single nucleolus. 



In mammalian neurology, the molecular layer is known to 

 have two varieties of cells: (1) Stellate cells, the process- 

 es of which lie freely in the layer; and (8) basket cells, 

 somewhat larger in size, occupying the deeper levels of the 

 layer, anJ having their axones associated with each other in 

 such a way as to form plexuses or baskets aroun3 the cell- 

 bodies of the Purkinje neurones. The latter type of cell is. 



