The works of Francis Maitland Balfour, Volume 1 (of 4) : $b Separate memoirsBalfour, Francis M. (Francis Maitland)
Science
The works of Francis Maitland Balfour, Volume 1 (of 4) : $b Separate memoirs
Balfour, Francis M. (Francis Maitland)
Embryology; Zoology
The proximal extremity of the nerve-rudiment itself is composed of cells,
which, by their smaller size and a more circular form, are easily
distinguished from cells forming the ganglionic portion of the nerve.
The ganglionic portion of the nerve, by its externally swollen
configuration, is at once recognizable in all the sections in which the
nerve is complete. The delicate investment before mentioned is continuous
around it. The cells forming it are larger and more elongated than the
cells forming the upper portion of the nerve-rudiment: each of them
possesses a large and distinct nucleus.
The remainder of the nerve rudiment forms the commencement of the true
nerve. It can in this stage be traced only for a very small distance, and
gradually fades away, in such a manner that its absolute termination is
very difficult to observe.
The connective-tissue cells which surround the nerve-rudiment are far
looser than in the last stage, and are commencing to throw out processes
and become branched.
The anterior root-nerve has grown very considerable since the last stage.
It projects from the same region of the cord as before, but on approaching
the muscle-plate takes a sudden bend downwards (fig. H II, _ar_).
I have failed to prove that the anterior and posterior roots are at this
stage united.
_Fourth Stage._
In an embryo but slightly more advanced than the one last described,
important steps have been made in the development of the nerve-rudiment.
The spinal cord itself now possesses a covering of white matter; this is
thickest at the ventral portion of the cord, and extends to the region of
the posterior root of the spinal nerve.
The junction of the posterior root with the spinal cord is easier to
observe than in the last stage.
It is still effected by means of unaltered cells, though the cells which
form the projection from the cord to the nerve are commencing to undergo
changes similar to those of the cells which are being converted into white
matter.
In the rudiment of the posterior root itself there are still three distinct
parts, though their arrangement has undergone some alteration and their
distinctness has become more marked (Pl. 23, fig. I I).
The root of the nerve (fig. I I, _pr_) consists, as before, of nearly
circular cells, each containing a nucleus, very large in proportion to the
size of the cell. The cells have a diameter of about 1/3000 of an inch.
This mass forms not only the junction between the ganglion and the spinal
canal, but is also continued into a layer investing the outer side of the
ganglion and continuous with the nerve beyond the ganglion.
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