THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS SCIENCE BULLETIN Vol. XLV] June 7, 1965 [No. 7 The Structure and Innervation of the Venom Glands in the Tail of the Salamanders (Amby stoma) BY Grant A. Mason, Jr. James L. Hall Paul Gibbons Roofe Department of Anatomy, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas Abstract 1. Twenty-two adult salamanders were used in this experiment, three for histological examinations, five for autonomic drug experiments, and the re-mainder for stimulation of the sectioned spinal cord. 2. The histological examination revealed nerves nmning among the smooth muscles of the acinus walls. 3. The autonomic drug experiments indicated that the nerves were from the sympathetic nervous system. 4. Stimulation of the sectioned spinal cord disclosed that the different levels of the thoracic and lumbar portions of the spinal cord (segments 10-15), when individually excited for a short period of time, would cause a segmental secretion on the tail. 5. Prolonged excitation of segments 10-15 will eventually cause secretion to appear on the entire dorsal surface of the tail, indicating the presence of a nerve syncitium. 6. This entire study proved that the walls of the poison skin glands in the tail of the salamander are irmervated by sympathetic nerve fibers that have their cells of origin in spinal cord segments 10-15. INTRODUCTION The existence of "poison" skin glands in the tail of the salamander has been known for a great many years. According to Francis (1934), Leydig (1876), Pfitzner (1880), and Brasch (1894) were among the earliest known investigators to do research in regard to the development and histology of the "poison" glands. Zalesky (1866), also cited by Francis, was the first worker in the field to elucidate the chemical nature of the substance secreted by the (557)
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