82 
CiACciOj on the Nerves of the Cornea. 
tlieir ultimate distribution. This general conclusion of Dr. 
Beale cannot be accepted as regards the nerves of the cornea. 
The nuclei^ as I have observed^ are very numerous in the 
trunks and primary ^^branches of the nerves of the cornea^ 
but as the nerves reach their termination^ these bodies gra- 
dually decrease in number. They are frequently seen in 
connection with single nerve-fibres^ but sometimes more than 
one fibre is seen connected with a single nucleus. As to 
the number and size of these nuclei^ there is much variety. 
I have found that in the nerves distributed to the cornea of 
man and the mouse^ the nuclei are comparatively more nume- 
rous and broader than in the frog and sparrow. 
Besides these nuclei connected with the nerve-fibres, I have 
seen, especially in the frog, another kind of nuclei, which lie 
on a more superficial plane than the former, and are spindle- 
shaped and sometimes so bent on themselves as to exhibit 
the form of the letter S. They are not arranged in the same 
linear direction as the nerve-fibres, but incline to them ob- 
liquely. I have been able to see these nuclei in the trunks 
of the nerves and the largest branches ; and I hold strongly 
to the opinion that they are the special organs upon which 
depends the growth and repair of that clear transparent 
material in which the nerves at their peripheric distribution 
are imbedded. 
I cannot say from my own observations whether the other 
nerves of common sensation have the same peculiar charac- 
teristic as those of the cornea. There are, however, some 
observations of Dr. Beale which satisfactorily clear up this 
point. This able observer has investigated and figured in a 
beautiful drawing the distribution of nerves in the mucous 
membrane covering the human epiglottis. Every one who 
attentively looks at this drawing will distinctly see branches 
of nerve-fibres in connection with triangular as well as with 
oval bodies. These bodies, however, in comparison with the 
large number of the nerve-fibres, are very few, and the greater 
part of the fibres represented in the drawing appear entirely 
destitute of nuclei. This is not the proper place to discuss 
whether the bodies alluded to are to be regarded as simple 
nuclei, or as peculiar organs. I need only remark for the 
present that the general appearance exhibited by the nerves, 
which are distributed to the mucous membrane of the human 
epiglottis, is, with some exceptions, the same as in the cornea. 
Now if we compare the before-mentioned drawing with those 
given by the same observer of the termination of nerves in 
the elementary fibres of striped muscles, we shall find a re- 
markable difference between them. The motor nerve-fibres 
