76 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES 
Perhaps the most interesting of the structures of the neurone 
are the bodies of Nissl. Barker refers to them as the “‘larders’’ 
of the neurone; Held calls them the ‘‘rolling stock’’. These 
have not been demonstrated in the hving eell, “but after certain 
methods of fixation and staining have been employed, blue 
masses are found which represent conditions of life. Nissl 
uses the expression ‘‘cell equivalent’’ in this connection. A 
bank note is not money, it does represent money. Nissl’s. 
bodies can not be demonstrated in the living eell, but they do 
correspond to morphological conditions of the living cell with 
remarkable constancy. 
The origin of these bodies is not known. Holmgren describes 
an elaborate process by which the nuclear wall breaks down, 
and the nuclear substance, passing into the cytoplasm, be- 
comes the Nissl bodies. Von Durme believes that the Nissl 
bodies are derived from the nuclei of the lymphocytes. Seott 
advocates the view that the nuclear substance diffuses through 
the cytoplasm and is gathered into masses as the result of the 
growth and structural changes of the neurone. This distribu- 
tion, he points out, leads to a more active and rapid metabolism 
than could be produced if the nuclear substance were retained 
in the orthodox position. It is agreed by all observers that 
katabolic changes in the neurone are accompanied by the dis- 
integration of the Nissl bodies, whether these changes be pro- 
duced by normal activity or by pathological conditions, such 
as traumatism, poisoning or starvation. This disintegration 
is called choromatolysis. 
The products of abnormal or experimental katabolism give al- 
most our only elue to the nature of the katabolie processes 
which may in any sense be regarded as essentially peculiar to 
the neurone. Lecithin is a phosphorized fat, found in all 
cells, but especially abundant in the nervous system. Cholin is 
split from lecithin by hydration, in vitro, by boiling with 
barium hydrate. The brain cells elaborate an enzine capable 
of producing cholin from lecithin, as is shown by the exhaustive 
work of Isador Coriat in the laboratory of the Worcester In- 
sane Hospital. According to Halliburton, cholin is found in 
abundance in the cerebro-spinal fluid of those dead of brain 
lesions, and also in the blood of those suffering from structural 
nerve disease. The blood of neurasthenics and others whose 
nerve disease is functional only, and of others in whom de- 
degenerative changes have ceased to be active, do not give this 
reaction. In normal cerebro-spinal fluid, cholin is found only 
in small quantities. The formation of cholin from lecithin is 
essentially characteristic of neurone katabolism. 
