TERMINATION OF NERVES IN THE EPIDERMIS. 457 
of the chloride of gold. Preparations of the white or red 
muscles of the rabMt, treated successively with lemon juice 
and chloride of gold, preserve the nerve terminations, not 
only continuously arborescent, but also remarkably regular. 
I have employed this process in the investigation of the 
nerve terminations in the epidermis in general, and have em- 
ployed for this purpose organs in which numerous authors 
have already studied the terminations of nerves ; for example, 
the snout of the pig, the nose of the mole, and the skin of 
the human finger. 
In the pig’s snout (fig. 1) the nerves which penetrate and 
ramify in the epidermis have a variable diameter ; the rami- 
fications they form have an equally variable distribution, 
though on this point it is not necessary to insist. It is, 
however, to be noticed, as is shown in fig. 1, that in propor- 
tion as the nerves approach their termination they become 
moniliform, and that some of them break up into granules, 
which become completely free. Some of these granules are 
to be seen completely isolated in the corneous layer of the 
epidermis. 
As regards the termination of the nerves in the nose of 
the mole [Talpa europea)^ I will assume a knowledge of the 
investigations of Eimer and Moisisovicz. I will add that at 
the base of the epidermic thickening, amongst the nervous 
tubes destined for them, there are small Paccinian corpuscles, 
and that in the deeper layer of the epithelial mass forming 
these papillae there are five or six small rounded nervous 
corpuscles, as to the signification of which I do not propose 
to give any further details. As regard the true inter-epithelial 
nervous branches (fig. 2), it is important to notice that those 
which, to the number of two or three, are placed in the centre 
of the organs of Eimer, form zigzags, which become the more 
pronounced as they approach the surface of the epidermic 
covering. At the angles of the zigzags there are at first 
thickenings of the nervous fibre, and finally veritable 
buttons. These buttons become more and more conspicu- 
ous, become stalked, and in the neighbourhood of the cor- 
neous layer become completely free. The marginal nerve- 
fibres {vide fig. 2) of the organ of Eimer remain straight 
through their whole course, but as they approach the sur- 
face swellings appear on them, which are placed in the same 
transverse line for all the fibres. These swellings enlarge, 
soon form a prominence turned towards the centre of the 
organ, then become stalked, and finally become completely 
free near the corneous layer. 
The same process may be observed with the peripheral 
