I 



1908.] TRANSPLANTATION OF VESSELS AND ORGANS. 689 



vation of the tissues in the serum of the same animal will also retard 

 very much the organic destruction. 



The occurrence of cadaveric changes in tissues, which will be 

 used for transplantation, must be prevented. This can be attained 

 in two different manners: by stopping completely the chemical 

 activities of the tissue, or merely by retarding so much the evolution 

 of autolytic disintegration that, after a few days or a few weeks, 

 the lesions are so small that they are not dangerous. 



The first method would be ideal. The tissue, being in a condi- 

 tion of chemical indifference, could be preserved theoretically for an 

 indefinite period. There are many instances of this form of latent 

 life in the animal kingdom. Two centuries ago, Loevenhoeck 

 obtained the resurrection of Milncsiuin tardigradum, which had been 

 completely dried for a long time, by moistening it with water. In 

 1840, Doyere studied also the peculiarities of latent life of Milnesium 

 tardigradum. He dried completely a few of these animals, heated 

 them at a temperature of 100° C, and, after having humidified 

 them, observed that they lived again. These observations are very 

 important because Milncsinui tardigradum is highly organized and 

 contains muscular fibers, nerves, nervous ganglia, etc. Paul Bert, 

 in several famous experiments, attempted to preserve tissues of 

 mammals in a condition of latent life. One of those experiments 

 consisted of cutting the tail of a rat, drying it in vaccum, and sub- 

 mitting it to a temperature of -\- 100° C. The tail was afterwards 

 transplanted onto another rat. It was observed that the dimensions 

 of the tail grew^ larger, that its vessels united to the vessels of the 

 host and that the bone marrow underwent fibrous degeneration. It 

 showed that the heated and dried tail could live again. I attempted 

 to preserve arteries in latent life by a similar method. Carotid 

 arteries from dogs were extirpated and placed in sealed glass tubes, 

 part of which were filled with calcium chloride. Within a few 

 hours, the arteries became yellow brown, shrank and looked like 

 pieces of catgut. One tube was heated for twelve minutes at 

 -\- 100°. When, after several days, the dried vessels were put into 

 Locke's solution, they took back their water and assumed again their 

 normal color, size and consistency. Two of them were transplanted 

 onto the carotid arteries of dogs. It was found that they could 



