Encapsulated nerve endings in murine dorsal ear skin.

Encapsulated nerve endings in the hairy skin of mice were identified by means of cholinesterase histochemistry. They were especially numerous in the dorsal skin of the ear and where totals ranged from 150 to 597; clustering of corpuscles was an obvious feature. The use of silver impregnation as a counterstain revealed that clusters comprised one or more sets of lamellated corpuscles, each being attached to a single parent axon. The members of each set resembled one another morphologically. Corpuscles from different sets could be classified as simple, branched or coiled. In the hairy skin of cheek, trunk and hindlimb a much lower density of corpuscles was observed; they were all simple in form and occurred in small clusters.