ON THE CHEMICAL NATURE OF CERTAIN GRANULES 

 IN THE INTERSTITIAL CELLS OF THE TESTIS 



R. H. WHITEHEAD 



From the Anatomical Laboratory, Universitij of Virginia 



SIX FIGURES 



In the course of a previous communication the writer^ called 

 attention to the existence of certain granules in the interstitial 

 cells of the testes of various mammals. The present paper gives 

 the results of an attempt to control the previous observations, 

 and also to obtain some insight into the chemical nature of these 



bodies. 



The granules were detected first in the cat's testis fixed in for- 

 mahn, and I shall begin the present account by a brief description 

 of the appearances noted in such material. In paraffin sections 

 the granules may be demonstrated by a number of staining meth- 

 ods, of which Reinke's neutral gentian as employed by Bensley^ 

 is excellent. Here the cytoplasmic framework of the cells is 

 stained by the orange G, while the granules take the violet dye 

 (fig. 1) , as does also the chromatin of the nucleus. The cytoplasm 

 is extensively vacuolated owing, for the most part, to the solution 

 of large quantities of lipoids by the reagents employed in imbed- 

 ding. The violet-colored granules are fairly spherical in contour, 

 and vary as to size. They are sprinkled here and there in the 

 cell-body, but are most numerous in the peripheral portion of the 



1 R. H. Whitehead. Studies of the interstitial cells of the testis. Histology- 

 Anat. Rec. of Amer. Jour. Anat., vol. 7, no. 4, 1908. I have remarked elsewhere 

 that this paper is catalogued "in the German literature" under a misleading 

 title. Dr. P. Mayer informs me that it is cited correctly in Zool. Jahresb. f. 

 1908. My statement was too broad, and I take the first opportunity to correct it. 



2 R. R. Bensley . Studies on the pancreas of the guinea pig. Amer. Jour. Anat. , 

 vol. 12, 1911. 



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