Sur les Terminaisons Nerveuses Sensitives du Clitoris chez la Truie (Sus scrofa domesticus)

Neural receptors of the porcine clitoris were examined using light and electron microscopy. Perfusion with ink allowed study of the unique vascular arrangement associated with the genital corpuscles. Sensory nerve-endings were generally rounded and formed a morphologically and structurally characteristic unit. They were composed of a network of primarily non-myelinated nerve fibers and flat cells. Between these structures, isolated small blood vessels were embedded amongst collagen fibers and amorphous material. An external capsule of variable thickness always surrounded the structures. A complex arrangement of vessels in the center of the capsule was formed by a subpapillary mesh. The same arrangement was seen in the morphologically comparable penile genital corpuscles of the same species. Based on the particular arrangement of blood vessels and nerve fibers in the genital corpuscles, some authors postulate the presence of a neuro-vascular glomerulus.