Vater, Pacini, Wagner, Meissner, Golgi, Mazzoni, Ruffini, Merkel and Krause: Were their nerves all on edge?

Classification of sensory endings (Corpuscula nervosa terminalia) includes free nerve endings (without any particular association with other types of cell), encapsulated endings (where specialized non-nervous cells invest neural process), and epidermal endings (where sensory fibres are attached to specific non-nervous cells or tissues) (Bannister, 1976). The terminology for these structures includes many eponyms (Olry, 1995): surprisingly, it appears that all these structures were discovered by German or Italian researchers.