EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETINS. • 619 



mucosa is but slighlty congested. The uterine wall is edematous. There is 

 a smaller quantity of a sero-fibrinous exudate in left horn than in right, the 

 mucosa is not congested and is moist. 



Histological Examination: The epithelium of the posterior cervix is 

 squamous except in the tubular depressions and shows considerable mucoid 

 changes. At some points the superficial cells have elongated and shrunken 

 nuclei and the cytoplasm is more densely stained than is seen in the normal 

 condition. This somewhat resembles the superficial layers. of the cutaneous 

 epithelium and possibly. illustrates the process of exfoliation of the cells injured 

 by the treatment. In the deeper layers of the epithelium the nuclei are larger 

 and vesicular and numerous mitotic figures are seen. The epithelium of the 

 middle cervix is simple columnar and shows the same condition seen 

 in the post cervix except in a few places it appears as a necrotic membrane. 

 At places there is marked eosinophiUc infiltration of the sub-epithelial stroma. 



In the posterior end of the right horn the epithelium varies from four to 

 twenty-four microns in height. The cells are deeply stained and numerous 

 mitotic figures are seen. At places there are epithelial buds projecting above 

 the surface to a height of forty microns at some points. This is interpreted 

 as excessive regeneration. The tips of these buds have a greenish tinge which 

 is probably a necrobiotic condition. At places along the surface the epithelium 

 is denuded and the process of the adjacent cells flattening and extending out 

 over the denuded area, and the intermediate stages of regeneration can be 

 distinctly seen. In the middle portion of the right horn the epithelium is 

 denuded although in places the necrotic epithelial membrane is present but 

 is separated from the stroma by exudate consisting of coagulated fibrin and 

 numerous polymorphonuclears. Here the mucosa varies from two to six mm. 

 in thickness and there is a distinct superficial zone averaging about eight- 

 tenths mm. in thickness in which the capillaries are engorged and the tissue 

 more or less necrotic. Numerous leucocytes are seen in this zone. There is 

 some evidence of proliferation of the fixed connective tissue cells at the border 

 line of this zone and the more deeply seated stroma. In the anterior end of 

 the right horn the necrotic epithelium remains throughout most of the sections 

 studied. The same hemorrhagic and necrotic zone is seen as described. in 

 middle portion. The necrotic tissue is densely infiltrated in places with 

 leucocytes. At places the superficial part of this zone including the epithelium 

 and part of the stroma is beginning to slough by a process of liquefaction 

 necrosis. At other places a layer of simple squamous epithelium is seen 

 covering the eroded areas where the necrotic zone is still present but being 

 separated by liquefaction necrosis. In places this may be seen at a depth of 

 one mm. from the surface and is seen to result from a proliferation of the 

 epithelium of the gland ducts. This observation illustrates that regenera- 

 tion of the epithelium may be initiated even before the superficial necrotic 

 tissue is sloughed and testifies to the logic of the adage " There is in the tissues 

 an almost insuperable tendency to heal." This capacity of the epithelium to 

 initiate regeneration at an early time after irritation with destruction is of 

 importance in preventing the growing together of surfaces of mucous mem- 

 branes that are in contact where the epithelium and superficial parts of the 

 stroma have been destroyed by irritation, a condition which does occur at 

 times,, as is sometimes seen after swabbing the cervix with irritants. This 

 property of epithelium also explains the difficulty of surgically eliminating 

 fistulous tracts that have become lined with epithelium. 



In the left horn the process of repair of the mucosa is more advanced. The 



