Nerve cell bodies and their delicate and
intricate dendrites and axons
are more branched than bushes, are more
interwoven the fibers of the thread of a spider
web.
How the parts worked, how they connected,
and whether they were all parts of cells
could not be distinguished using a microscope.
Camillo Golgi discovered a means of staining
a limited number of cells in animal tissue
at random
and in their entirety,
so that their soma and their branches
are in strong contrast with the background tissues.
Santiago Ramón y Cajal used Golgi’s
method
and experimentally proved nerve cells were not
fused together
but communicated across touching branches.
Golgi’s method
“fixing silver chromate
to the neurilemma
by causing silver nitrate to react
with potassium dichromate”
to stain random cells black.
Why this works for cells at random
has not been explained.
Why some things work sometimes
and not others
remains a mystery
even though, theoretically,
the universe is deterministic.
Naming parts of the body
Golgi discovered a sensory organ
named the Golgi receptor
and the intracellular reticular
Golgi apparatus.
Cajal discovered a new type of cell—
the interstitial cell of Cajal.
The Sharp crater on the moon
is not named after me,
nor is any part of your body,
so far as I know.
Camillo Golgi and Joseph von Gerlach were proponents of the
reticular theory—that the ends of axons of nerve cells fuse
with other nerve cells to form a continuous “fine nerve
fibre network.” Santiago Ramón y Cajal proved them
wrong. Cajal established the neuron theory—that each nerve
cell is self-contained but communicates with other cells.
Eventually, the connection between the axon and other cells was
named the synapse by Charles Sherrington.
Camillo Golgi and Joseph von Gerlach were proponents of the reticular theory—that the ends of axons of nerve cells fuse with other nerve cells to form a continuous “fine nerve fibre network.” Santiago Ramón y Cajal proved them wrong. Cajal established the neuron theory—that each nerve cell is self-contained but communicates with other cells. Eventually, the connection between the axon and other cells was named the synapse by Charles Sherrington.
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