Introduction to the histology and histopathology of the nervous system / by Paul Schröder ; authorized translation from the second revised German edition, by Baldwin Lucke and Morton McCutcheon.

  • Schröder, Paul, 1873-1941.
Date:
[1923], ©1923
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Introduction to the histology and histopathology of the nervous system / by Paul Schröder ; authorized translation from the second revised German edition, by Baldwin Lucke and Morton McCutcheon. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    enriched our knowledge in the field of histology and histo- pathology in numerous details, partly in entirely new and unexpected directions. If we wish to understand this progress, it must first of all be made clear what we may look upon as definitely established in our knowledge of normal structure; later on, when we come to study the histology of pathological changes, we will find many indi¬ cations that our knowledge does in fact rest upon a firm foundation of truth. Ganglion Cells.—Among the structural elements of the nervous system which we wish to discuss, at first separately, and then in their relation to the whole of the nervous tissues, the most important are, according to orthodox views, the ganglion cells. Whether they really have the supreme importance for the function of the organ that has long been attributed to them, has become somewhat questionable. For their staining, we possess a whole series of methods. The older diffusely staining substances (car- min, nigrosin, hematoxylin, van Gieson’s, etc.) give for the most part indefinite pictures, which are especially difficult to interpret under pathological conditions; while fixation by chromic salts (Muller’s fluid), formerly so generally used, causes numerous artefacts. Our definite knowledge of the characteristics of ganglion cells we owe to three so-called specific methods—the Nissl, the Golgi, and the methods of fibril-staining. These three are entirely different in principle, and of all of them there are numerous modifications, which however lead only to unimportant differences in the microscopic pictures.2 2 There are several such methods for the elective demonstration of the neuro- fibrils.