64 Journal of Comparative Neurology and Psychology. 



Do NissL granules exist in the living cell ? The existence of 

 the NissL granules in the living cell has been seriously questioned 

 by several prominent observers and various answers have been 

 published. Dogiel, Held, Ruzicka, Flemming hold to the 

 view that they are an aggregation of material produced in the cell 

 at the time of fixation, by the reagents employed. Olmer ('01) 

 contends that the material of which the Nissl bodies are com- 

 posed is scattered through the cells, and that these particles are 

 clumped and precipitated by the fixing agent. 





|^# 



Fig. 



Fig. 12. 



Fig. 13. 



Fig. II. Helix. Cell from infra-oesophageal ganglion. Flemming's sol., prog, iron-haem. Con- 

 centric arrangement of fibrils and granular rows. Spindles. Pigment granules at base of process. 

 After McClure ('97, Fig. 12). 



Fig. 12. Medullary stichochrome of infant, 3 hours after death. Lang's fluid. Methylene blue. 

 Very rapid and extreme vacuolation. Coarsely granular appearance of chromatic bodies. After Ewing 

 ('98, Fig. I, plate 2). 



Fig. 13. PuRKiNjE cell of rabbit, after 48 hours exposure to air. Lang's fluid. Methylene blue. 

 Extreme vacuolation. Growth of putrefactive bacteria. The chromatic reticulum and bodies are 

 reduced to a series of coarse dark granules. Complete nuclear chromatophilia. Shrinkage and 

 destruction of dendrites. After Ewing ('98, Fig. 3, plate 2). 



The admirable work of Carrier ('04) gives strong evidence 

 for the belief that the Nissl bodies are not due to postmortem 

 changes but actually exist in the living cells. In support of the 

 same view may be mentioned the results by Arnold, von Len- 

 HossEK, Cajal, Turner, etc. 



