230 



THE RETINA, BY MAX SCHULTZE, 



phery they pass into the processes springing from the ganglion 

 cells. Several such processes may often be seen in fresh pre- 

 parations, of considerable thickness, and undergoing more or 

 less ramification. If a process runs out unbranched and straight, 

 it cannot, either by its refractile power or its intimate struc- 

 ture, be distinguished from the fibres of the optic nerve, since 

 the latter, as has been mentioned above, likewise possess a 

 fibrillar structure. This extremely delicate fibrous structure of 



Fig. 34G. . 



Fig. 346. A, Ganglion cells from the fresh retina of the Ox, taken 

 from the neighbourhood of the ora serrata, in situ a, nerve-fibre 

 process passing into a fasciculus of optic fibres ; 6 6, processes which 

 lose themselves in the granulated layer ; c, small ganglion cells, 

 very commonly found near the larger ones. B, Ganglion cells of 

 the macula lutea of Man ; a, their central ; 6, their peripheric pro- 

 cess. Magnified 500 diameters. 



the ganglion-cell substance cannot be rendered more distinct 

 by the aid of reagents; but, on the contrary, it rather tends to 

 disappear with the occurrence of granular coagulation. Even 

 iodized serum and perosmic acid destroy the transparency of 

 the cells. 



Surface views of still living retinas are obviously not well 

 adapted to enable a correct estimate to be formed of the 

 number of processes given off by the ganglion cells. In many 



