The Nissl-Golgi Complex in the Purkinje Cells of the Tawny Owl, Strix aluco

ABSTRACT The purpose of this investigation was to repeat as exactly as possible the original work on the ‘apparatus’ of Golgi in the Purkinje cells of the cerebellum of owls, and to re-investigate these cells by modem methods. The tawny owl, Strix aluco, was used instead of the closely-related ‘Strix flammea’ of Golgi. Golgi’s ‘osmio-bichromique’ technique of 1898 for silver impregnation was used successfully. A reticulum corresponding to the basiphil Nets of Nissl can be seen in the living neurones by interference microscopy. The classical Golgi apparatus of the perikaryon is a deposit of silver or of osmium on this reticulum. The reticulum extends into the axons in the form of thin non-basiphil filaments, which are also blackened by Golgi methods. These findings are in conformity with recent studies of the neurones of other vertebrates.