Nuclei of the mammillary bodies and their fiber connections in cattle (Bos taurus var. domesticus). I. Nuclei of the mammillary bodies in cattle]

1. In the present neuroanatomic study the topography and cytoarchitectonic of the nuclei of the mamillary body of cattle are described and quantitative-morphologically investigated in 14 series of brains (6 frontal, 4 sagittal and 4 horizontal series, stained by the methods after Nissl, Klüver and Barrera and after Heidenhain). 2. The medial mamillary nucleus of cattle is with an average volume of 47.7 mm3 the largest nucleus of the mamillary body. It contains about 715,000 cells with a cell density of 15,000 cells/mm3 and can cytoarchitectonically be subdivided into a medial part and a lateral part. 3. The median mamillary nucleus is an unpaired and clearly defined nucleus which accounts with an average volume of 16.9 mm3 for a quarter of the whole volume of the nuclei belonging to the mamillary body, however with 11,000 cells/mm3 it shows a relatively small cell density in comparison with the other mamillary nuclei. 4. The lateral mamillary nuclei of cattle are situated in the rostral third of the mamillary body and account for 5.3 per cent of the whole volume of the nuclei. About 28,000 cells with a cell density of 15,000 cells/mm3 were found in each nucleus.