390 ELDON W. SANFORD 
absorption unless secretion globules from some cells are present 
to act on the fat. Rarely the epithelium is not specialized, but 
shows all cells alike. In this case fat globules may be found in 
the ends of all cells but even here there is a tendency for certain 
groups of cells to absorb most of the fat. I cannot support 
Cuénot in his statement that only the posterior two-thirds can 
absorb, for I find fat in the cells of the extreme anterior stomach. 
Serial sections of the whole length of the stomach show similar 
cellular structure throughout the entire length and similar 
absorptive power. 
The coeca give the same pictures as the stomach. Figure 20 
shows the arrangement in alternate groups of fat-absorbing cells 
and regenerating cells. I conclude that the coeca have approxi- 
mately the same absorptive power per unit of surface as the 
stomach does. The fact that the coeca both secrete and absorb 
in just the same way as the stomach indicates that they are to 
be considered as proliferations from the stomach merely for the 
sake of exposing more stomach epithelium to food. 
It does not seem to me at all probable that the limited amount 
of fat absorption observed in the stomach can be all the body is 
capable of. Only a part of the epithelium can absorb, and, 
moreover, more than half of my preparations of stomachs with 
fat in their lumina showed little or no absorption in the cells. 
This was due to lack of secretion or some other deterrent factor, 
and goes to show how irregular and comparatively slight is the 
absorption of fat in the stomach as compared with absorption 
in the crop, where I was practically always able to find good 
absorption stages at appropriate intervals after feeding. 
The stomach of Dytiscus gives very similar pictures to that 
of the cockroach, though the coeca are small and numerous. A 
specimen was fed suet and dissected after three days. The 
stomach epithelium showed absorption of fat in groups of absorp- 
tive cells separated by regenerating cells, just as in the cock- 
roach. The coeca also showed the same structure and absorptive 
power as the stomach. 
