Showing papers in "Journal of Anatomy in 1958"

The structure of human digital pacinian corpuscles (corpus cula lamellosa) and its functional significance.

Abstract: The lamellar corpuscles were first seen by Vater (1741) who found them attached to the digital nerves in large numbers. Without describing their structure or function he called them Papillae nerveae. The corpuscles were shown in a drawing and the specimens were preserved in the anatomical museum (G6ttingen), yet Vater's discovery was forgotten until a hundred years later when Pacini (1885, 1840) rediscovered them and described their lamellar structure. He found that spaces between the lamellae contained a quantity of fluid and that the lamellae were connected by a ligament (ligamentum intercapsulare) at the distal pole of the corpuscle. Pacini thought that the structures were terminal ganglia concerned with animal electricity and magnetism. Lacouchie (1843) suggested that Pacinian corpuscles belonged to the lymphatic system and that the 'central canal' opened into a lacteal. Henle and Kolliker (1844) found that the lamellae of the corpuscle consisted of cells and two layers of fibrillar tissue, the outer layer being transverse and the inner longitudinal. They also found blood vessels around and inside the corpuscle and observed that a medullated fibre ended by an enlargement inside it, often after a division. They suggested that Pacinian corpuscles were electric organs comparable with those of some fishes. Mayer (1844) found that the corpuscle consisted of an outer fibrous part and an inner glandular portion with a duct leading out of it. Herbst (1848), in his monograph, rejected the suggestion that the Pacinian corpuscles were terminal ganglia, electric organs or glands and firmly stated that they represented nerve endings. He described the corpuscle as consisting of four systems: peripheral, middle and inner capsules and the central cavity; the latter containing a nerve fibre which frequently after some ramification ended in a swelling. He gave an extensive account of variations of the corpuscles and their distribution among mammals. Although the lamellar corpuscle was the first general nerve receptor organ recognized by anatomists and is easily demonstrated by most histological methods, yet, as is apparent from the review of the literature, its structure, nerve supply and functions have been and are still in dispute.

Bone marrow volume in guinea-pigs.

Abstract: FOR quantitative studies of haemopoiesis1, it is important to know both the absolute count of cells per unit volume of bone marrow and also the volume of the marrow as a whole. From a review of the literature it appears that whereas in man and in a few laboratory animals a small number of determinations of marrow volume have been made, none has been made in the guinea pig. Since this latter animal is the one on which in our own laboratory a number of quantitative studies of haemopoiesis are in progress, it has become necessary to determine its marrow volume with as much accuracy as possible. The following is a summary of my observations.