92 THE ACTION OF THE LIVING CELL 



with the degree of the burn and the interval of time 

 between the burning and removal of this kidney for 

 examination. While for our present purposes it is 

 not desirable to stress the pathology of kidney lesions, 

 a few additional facts are pertinent to the general 

 problem of the mode of action of cytost on the kidney. 



Animals which had been burned and apparently 

 had recovered from such maltreatment were found 

 upon subsequent examination to be suffering from 

 kidney lesions. 



The kidneys of such animals showed changes of 

 both the degenerative and inflammatory proliferative 

 type in the glomeruli and approximal tubules. 



Since glomerulitis may be observed within five 

 minutes following the injection of cytost, it seems that 

 this is the primary change in the kidney induced by 

 stasis of the blood in the glomerular capillaries. 

 Those animals which survived the injection of the 

 burned tissue extract likewise were found to have 

 suffered degenerative changes in the kidney similar 

 to those induced by direct burns. It seems likely, 

 therefore, that degeneration and secondary prolifera- 

 tion in the areas under consideration are induced by 

 the primary response to cytost. The blood stasis in- 

 duced by the latter interrupts the normal metabolism 

 of the kidney cells and permits an accumulation of 

 toxic metabolites, which in turn results in further 

 tissue destruction and cellular proliferation. If the 

 latter becomes excessive, then the damage is irrepar- 

 able. 



It is interesting to compare these results with the 

 changes induced in the stomach by the application to 

 the mucosa of emulsions of mustard. In the latter 



