Note 132 — Chapter VI · WHAT IS TAUGHT BY EMBRYOLOGY?

Quite recently Owsjannikow has pointed out the termination of fibres in the phosphorescent cells of the Lampyris Noctiluca. See his paper in the Mémoires de l’Acad. de St. Petersbourg, 1868, XI. 17. These phosphorescent cells are said to be ganglion-cells by Panceri, Intorno della luce che emana dalle celleule nervose (Rendiconto della Accad. delle Scienze, April, 1872); and by Eimer, Archiv für mikros. Anatomie, 1872, p. 653. Kölliker also calls the phosphorescent organ a nervous organ. This is not to be interpreted as meaning that neurility is phosphorescence, but simply that in some nerve-cells there is phosphorescent matter, which is called into activity by stimulus of the nerves.