THE MITOCHONDRIAL CONSTITUENTS OF PROTOPLASM. 137 



to mitochondria at all. Enderlen (1908, p. 208), Hirsch (1910, p. 168), and De Gia- 

 como (1911, p. 223) have all studied compensatory renal hypertrophy and record 

 concurrent increase in granulations which are probably mitochondria. There is 

 also a general consensus of opinion to the effect that mitochondria fragment on 

 the approach of degeneration. The work of Cesa-Bianchi (1909, 1910) and 

 Hjelt (1912, p. 207) is important in this connection. 



Though much has been done on mitochondria in cloudy swelling, particularly 

 in the kidney, little if anything has been added to the excellent account of mito- 

 chondria under the heading of "Altmann's granules" given by SchilUng (1894, 

 p. 478) and usually ignored. Schilling produced cloudy swellings in rabbits by 

 ligation of the renal vein and found that the mitochondria lose their charac- 

 teristic staining reaction and serial arrangement and decrease in number. He 

 rightly maintains that the mitochondria are quite distinct from the albuminous 

 granules of cloudy sweUing, and he attributes the disappearance of mitochondria 

 to the approach of degeneration. His conclusions have been confirmed by Lubarsch 

 (1897, p. 631) and many others. Recent hterature has been reviewed by Ernst 

 (1914, p. 81). 



Dominici (1913, p. 295) has studied the relationship of mitochondria in normal 

 and hypertrophied human prostates and has concluded that they are not directly 

 concerned in the formation of the secretion. 



RESPIRATORY. MUSCULAR. AND SUPPORTIVE SYSTEMS. 



The respiratory, muscular, and supportive systems have not been studied 

 to any extent. We merely have the observations of Dubreuil (1913, p. 134) on 

 inflammation in connective tissue already referred to on page 127. 



NERVOUS SYSTEM. 



Luna (1913^, p. 415) in a brief note records the behavior of mitochondria 

 (plastosomes) in transplanted ganglia. They first swell up into large granules, 

 and he claims that the cells must maintain their vitality owing to the presence 

 in them of well-developed mitochondria. He also experimented by cutting periph- 

 eral nerves and found that the mitochondria in the corresponding gangUon cells 

 lose their regular distribution, increase in volume, take on a more intense stain 

 with hematoxylin, and finally disappear entirely. Clark (1914, p. 92) observed 

 that the mitochondria are surprisingly constant and show no changes in experi- 

 mental beri-beri, and Biondi (1915, p. 232) has made a study of the relations of 

 mitochondria in autolyzing nervous tissue. 



G. F. McCann (1918, p. 36) has made a study of mitochondria in the spinal 

 ganglion cells of monkeys in experimental poUomyelitis. She has found that the 

 mitochondria are surprisingly resistant, occurring even in those cells which no longer 

 contain typical Nissl substance. Evidently, therefore, experimental poliomyelitis, 

 like experimental beri-l)eri, does not modify to any great extent the vital processes, 

 whatever they may be, in which the mitochondria are concerned. This is impor- 

 tant because it brings us face to face with the fact that, while the mitochondria 



