THE FROG. 137 



and a peripheral clear portion (medullary sheath)-, 

 the whole invested in a delicate primitive sheath^ 

 obvious as a darkly stained outline. 

 /?. Non-medullated nerve fibres ; irregularly dispersed 

 among a. ; each consisting of an axis-fibre alone. 



The medullated nerve-fibre ; structural analysis. 



i. Tease out a bit of a fresh spinal nerve in salt 

 solution. Examine with a low power. 



a. Composed of well-defined fibres (medullated 

 nerve-fibres] mixed with white fibrous tissue. 



p. The appearance of the nerve-fibres ; each has 

 a double contour and a highly refractive 

 border. Some fibres are regular in outline, 

 others contorted and irregular. 



ii. Examine, under a high power, selecting the least 

 contorted fibres. 



a. The primitive sheath; look for it on bruised 



nerve-fibres or at the ends of torn ones. 

 (3. The highly refractive border (medullary sheath) 



within the primitive sheath, 

 y. The central homogeneous axis (axis fibre}; 



look for it projecting beyond the medullary 



sheath of torn fibres. 

 8. Treat with chloroform ; the medullary sheath 



will be dissolved out, and the axis fibre 



plainly seen. 



e. RanvieSs nodes; apparent breaks (constric- 

 tions) in the medullary sheath, seen at com- 

 paratively long intervals along the course of 

 the individual fibre. 



