Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 66.djvu/167

Rh whether it is simply an intimate mixture of lecithin, cerebrin and one or more other substances, is not yet settled to the satisfaction of all concerned. Further, it is not at all impossible that the cerebrosides, as well as lecithin and possibly cholesterin, may exist in the living tissue combined with some one or more of the proteids present there. Our lack of knowledge is deplorable, and yet, in the words of Sir Michael Foster, this is one of the 'master tissues' of the body. Surely, considering the preeminent position and controlling influence of this tissue, we may look for a speedy clearing away of the darkness that enshrouds our understanding of the exact chemical composition of nerve tissue, and especially of the way these peculiar substances of the myelin material exist in the living tissue.

Again, we may ask ourselves what is the nature of the chemical changes that take place in nerve tissue; in the ganglionic cells of the gray matter and in the axis cylinder of the nerve fibers? When a muscle contracts there is a measurable chemical decomposition. The energy of muscular contraction comes from the breaking down of non-nitrogenous components of the muscle, and perhaps in some measure from the decomposition of nitrogenous constituents. Further, there is a liberation of heat, a development of lactic acid, etc. When a stimulus is applied to a nerve, on the other hand, no such manifestations of chemical action are apparent. The muscle to which the nerve is attached contracts, the secreting cell pours forth the product of its activity, etc., but there is no noticeable change in the nerve itself, no recognizable liberation of heat, no change of reaction, no output of carbonic acid, that can be detected. Are we to conclude then that the axis cylinder of the nerve fiber acts simply as a conducting agent without itself undergoing any change? Is it to be compared to an electric wire, with the surrounding myelin material, the substance of Schwan, serving as a convenient insulating or protective medium? If we are to accept this view, what are we to say regarding the non-medullated fibers? Do not they need an insulating material likewise? We can argue that the myelin substance is especially adapted for the nourishment of the nerve, that its high potential value renders it peculiarly suitable as a concentrated nutriment, and that its intimate contact with the neuraxis and with the ganglionic cells of the gray matter proclaims its probable use in this direction. Moreover, if we follow this line of argument still further, we may be led to believe that the stimulation of a nerve, its power of conductivity, etc., are associated with chemical decompositions along its axis as marked in their way as those that occur in a contracting muscle fiber. Truly, we have here a multitude of questions, for which at present no satisfactory answers are to be found. The problems are on the surface awaiting solution.

Finally, emphasis must be laid upon a series of problems in {{hws|physio|physiological}