+----------+----------+---------+---------+----------+---------+
| | | | Dorso- | | |
|V. Wijhe's|Eurypterid| Somatic | ventral |Coelomic| Coxal |
|segments. |segments. | motor |segmental| cavities.| glands. |
| | | nerves. | muscles.| | |
+----------+----------+---------+---------+----------+---------+
| | | | | | 1 |
| | 2} | 1 Oculo-| Sup. | 1 Pre- |Pituitary|
| 1 | 3} | motor |inf. int.|mandibular| body; |
| | 4} |supplying| rectus | fusion |fusion of|
| | 5} | 4 | and inf.| of 4 | 4 coxal |
| | | muscles | oblique | | glands |
+----------+----------+---------+---------+----------+---------+
| | | 1 Troch-| | | |
| 2 | 6 | learis | Sup. | 1 | |
| | |supplying| oblique |Mandibular| |
| | | 1 muscle| | | |
+----------+----------+---------+---------+----------+---------+
{309}THE TUBULAR MUSCLES.
The only musculature innervated by the trigeminal nerve which remains for
further discussion, consists of those peculiar muscles found in the velum,
known by the name of striated tubular muscles. This group of muscles has
already been referred to in Chapter IV., dealing with respiration and the
origin of the heart.
It is a muscular group of extraordinary interest in seeking an answer to
the question of vertebrate ancestry, for, like the thyroid gland, it bears
all the characteristics of a survival from a prevertebrate form, which is
especially well marked in Ammocoetes. I have already suggested in this
chapter that the homologues of these muscles are represented in Limulus by
the veno-pericardial group of muscles. I will now proceed to deal with the
evidence for this suggestion.
The structure of the muscle-fibres is peculiar and very characteristic, so
that wherever they occur they are easily recognized. Each fibre consists of
a core of granular protoplasm, in the centre of which the nuclei are
arranged in a single row. This core is surrounded by a margin of striated
fibrillæ, as is seen in Fig. 122. Such a structure is characteristic of
various forms of striated muscle found in various invertebrates, such as
the muscle-fibre of mollusca. It is, as far as I know, found nowhere in the
vertebrate kingdom, except in Ammocoetes. At transformation these muscles
entirely disappear, becoming fattily degenerated and then absorbed.
[Illustration: FIG. 122.--A TUBULAR MUSCLE-FIBRE OF AMMOCOETES.
A, portion of fibre seen longitudinally; B, transverse section of fibre
(osmic preparation); the black dots are fat-globules.]
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