118 CARNEGIE INSTITUTION OF WASHINGTON. 



lampblack into the ventricles of the brain. Other insoluble granules, 

 such as cinnabar and lycopodium, were used as an injection medium, 

 but none of them gave rise to internal hydrocephalus. There also 

 seems to be a difference in the reaction following the use of different 

 qualities of lampblack. 



Post-mortem examination of the kittens surviving 10 days or more 

 shows practically identical lesions in all cases. There is extreme 

 dilatation of the lateral and third ventricles, with distortion of the walls 

 and marked thinning of the cerebral cortex, typical of the condition 

 found clinically in children. The distribution of the granules is 

 principally within the basilar and spinal subarachnoid space, with a 

 smaller spread over the cerebral and cerebellar cortices. Apparently, 

 the obstruction resulting from these injections is due to the aggre- 

 gation of the granules into an impervious mass, the essential and ulti- 

 mate matting together being accomplished by the inflammatory 

 process which subsequently supervenes. Similar results were obtained 

 with adult cats, though here there was no compensatory enlargement 

 of the skull, and the results were therefore less typical. 



By means of silver nitrate, forced through the omental vessels under 

 high pressure immediately after death. Dr. H. R. Casparis has been 

 able to clearly demonstrate the presence of lymph-vessels in the rabbit, 

 cat, dog, and man. The silver solution passed through the walls of 

 the arteries, invading the structures in the perivascular areas. The 

 lymphatic endothelium was readily distinguishable from that of the 

 veins and arteries, but in none of the experiments were the lymphatic 

 vessels numerous. All attempts to inject them with color suspensions 

 proved futile. The author then made a series of experiments to test 

 absorption in anesthetized animals. The omentum was drawn out 

 through a midline incision and kept immersed in carmine solution for 

 varying lengths of time while absorption was taking place. All 

 lymph-glands through which drainage might occur were removed, 

 sectioned, and examined, but no channels of absorption were found. 

 Smears of lymph withdrawn from the cisterna chyli and the thoracic 

 duct were then made, and in each experiment a few granules (never 

 very many) were found. Similar results were met with by other 

 methods. The author was thus able to confirm the presence of 

 lymphatics in the omentum and their function as channels of absorp- 

 tion from the peritoneal cavity. He has further shown that drainage 

 from these lymphatics takes place into the cisterna chyli and on 

 through the thoracic duct. 



The canalis basilaris chordae is generally regarded as a persisting 

 trace of the cranial part of the chorda dorsalis which usually dis- 

 appears after the third month of intrauterine life. It has been re- 

 ported more frequently in children, which would indicate obliteration 



