38 THE VENOM OF HELODERMA. 



observed in normal nuclei. In this lobule, the lumina of the smaller acini 

 were either empty or contained only an insignificant amount of a coarsely gran- 

 ular mass. In the larger acini or tubules this mass was much more copious. 

 In some cases, especially in the largest tubules, it also contained free nuclei, 

 which in one instance were observed aggregated in a dense cluster in the center 

 of the tubule. 



In the lobule just below the one described in the preceding paragraph, 

 but in a deeper part of the gland, the conditions deviated somewhat from the 

 normal. In this lobule the intralobular ducts were numerous and in most 

 cases of relatively large diameter. They contained a granular mass with 

 occasional desquamated cells or nuclei. They were lined by a single layer of 

 epithelium which, in those tubules or those parts of a tubule nearest the 

 surface of the gland, consisted of either columnar or cubical cells, while in the 

 deeper tubules or deeper parts of a larger tubule the cells were much flattened. 

 In that portion of the lobule nearest the surface of the transplanted piece, the 

 various tubules and acini were separated by clearly defined fibrous partitions, 

 but in the deeper portion of the lobule these were less distinct and were largely 

 replaced by solid aggregations of rounded or spindle-shaped cells. Usuallj'^ 

 these cells were clustered about the tubules and were not always clearly separ- 

 able from the epithelial lining of the ducts. A mitotic figure was observed 

 in one of these cells. The origin of these cells we have not been able clearly 

 to determine. They may possibly be derived from the proliferating epithelium 

 of the tubules, their usually close association with the latter favoring this 

 view; on the other hand, they may be derived from proliferating connective- 

 tissue cells. 



Since these cell-aggregations largely grouped themselves about the vari- 

 ous tubules, there were left between them narrow, clear spaces with indications 

 of a very loose connective tissue through which were scattered minute granules 

 of apparently necrotic material. 



In another lobule lying to one side of the one last described, the conditions 

 were still less normal. The superficial part of the lobule alone showed tubules 

 with a distinct lumen ; in the remainder of the section the outlines of the orig- 

 inal tubules were rather indistinctly indicated by clusters of rounded cells, the 

 cells of each cluster being grouped more or less concentrically around the 

 center, which in one case at least showed signs of a lumen. These clusters 

 were observed to be separated by an anastomosing network of loose connective- 

 tissue septa in which necrotic particles were abundant and in which numerous 

 elongated or spindle-shaped cells were scattered. 



In the deeper parts of this lobule most of the solid cell-clusters were very 

 small — considerably smaller than any tubules observed in normal glands. A 

 number of these appeared to be grouped in a radial maimer about a common 

 center and invested by an indistinct layer of necrotic connective tissue. These 

 masses appeared to correspond to single tubules, the solid cell-mass of the 

 latter having degenerated into a number of cell-clusters between which con- 

 nective-tissue cells then penetrated. 



