Page:Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Vol 4.djvu/349

Rh trie, vaginal, vesical and uterine ganglia are delineated in the fourth month of pregnancy, and also the plexuses of nerves on the anterior surface of the uterus.

From an examination with the microscope of portions of the plexuses under the peritoneum of a gravid uterus in the ninth month, which had long been immersed in rectified spirit, Professor Owen and Mr. Kiernan inferred that they were not nervous plexuses, but bands of elastic tissue, gelatinous tissue, or cellular membrane.

The author concludes his paper wdth a letter from John Dalrym- ple, Esq., containing the results of the observations he had made with the microscope on the uterine nerves in the recent state. Fila- ments of the nerves which surrounded the ureter, and which were situated upon the body of the uterus, were submitted to the micro- scope. The instrument employed was a very powerful object-glass, whose focus was the eighth of an inch, made by Ross. Mr. Dal- rymple found that it was impossible, even with the most careful dissec- tion, to detach any filament of nerve without including a quantity of cellular and elastic tissue ; so that although the tubular portion indi- cating the nerve was distinct, yet it was surrounded by innumerable extremely minute threads coiled and contorted, such as those which constitute the component of elastic tissue, and the ultimate element of cellular membrane. Under slight pressure, however, the tube was plainly discernible, and was found to contain granular matter, not uniformly distributed, but collected in minute masses at intervals. Small blood-vessels were also here and there seen, with blood-discs within them, which served to indicate the difference between the nervous and vascular tubes, and thus to avoid the possibility of error. Being, however, aware that some of the most distinguished foreign microscopical anatomists had difi'ered as to what was the real cha- racteristic of the nerves of the sympathetic system, and feeling, from this discordance of opinion, that there was no absolute test, or at least none which was not open to cavil, Mr. Dalrymple thought of making a comparison of the uterine nerv^es with those that undenia- bly belonged to the ganglionic system. He therefore traced some nerves on the surface of the stomach up to the great ganglion that gave them origin ; and he selected some also from the small intestine. These he submitted to the same microscopical power, and under the same circumstances of light, and pressure, and medium. In all of these he observed the tubular part filled with granular matter, and similarly collected in minute masses. He also observed that each tube was surrounded by the minute serpentine threads before de- scribed. In fact, so closely did they agree in every particular with the appearances presented by the uterine nerves, that it would have been impossible to distinguish the one from the other.

4. " On the Corpuscles of the Blood." Part III. By Martin Barry, M.D., F.R.SS. L. and E.

After remarking that no clear conception has hitherto existed of the mode in which the floating corpuscles of the blood conduce to nourishment, the author states that he has found every structure he has