SPECIFIC NERVE IMPULSES FROM GUSTATORY AND TACTILE RECEPTORS IN CATFISH

1. Receptors in the lips and barbels of the catfish Ameiurus nebulosus Les. are very sensitive to mechanical stimuli, giving large rapid (A-type) impulses in fibers of the facial nerve in response to touching the receptive surfaces and to movements of the water in which the preparation is immersed. 2. The great sensitivity of the barbels and lips to currents of water and the bilateral symmetry of the distribution of sensitivity of the facial nerve may serve as a basis for observed rheotropic orientation in the catfish. 3. Acetic acid, NaCl, and meat juice, dissolved in the water bathing the barbels and lips, set up impulses of very small and barely detectable potential in the fibers of the facial nerve. 4. It is suggested that the specificity of impulses for the two sense modalities may be correlated with the large size of the cells of origin of the axons in the Gasserian ganglion supplying tactile receptors and the small size of the cells of origin in the geniculate ganglion sending axons to taste-buds.