Combined light- and electron-microscopic study of the rat saphenous nerve

Using light- and electron-microscopic techniques, a quantitative histological study of the rat saphenous nerve has been carried out. The distribution of myelinated fibre diameters was bimodal; while that of the unmyelinated axons was unimodal. The variation of myelin sheath thickness with axon diameter was non-linear; two straight lines were found to fit the data best. The variation of g (axon diameter/total fibre diameter) with total fibre diameter was also nonlinear, being best fitted by two lines -- one straight, the other slightly curved. The number of unmyelinated axons per Schwann cell process was examined. the ration of unmyelinated axons to myelinated fibres was 3.42:1.