376 S. SAGUCHI 



be employed as a prefixing reagent for a piece which is to be 

 treated afterward with osmic acid or osmium-sublimate mixture. 

 From this it is evident that these granules have relatively weak 

 reducing power, although they eagerly take on osmic acid. They 

 seem also to have special affinity for chromic acid, as is seen from 

 the Golgi's chromium-silver method. From these reactions and 

 their affinity for fat stains, such as sudan III, scarlet red, etc., 

 the inference is warranted that they are of fatty nature; hence 

 they have been termed 'fat-like granules.' 



2. Shape and positio?i. The fat-like granules are not scattered 

 through the cytoplasm, but are limited between the nucleus and 

 basement membrane (figs. 44, 47, 57 to 70, 105). Almost all the 

 cells contain such granules, few lacking them. They vary greatly 

 in number being often numerous and accumulated in one or more 

 heaps in close proximity rather to the basal surface of the cell 

 than to the nucleus (figs. 60, 65). They also vary in size, but 

 such as exceed the zymogen granules in bulk cannot usually be 

 seen. In shape they are spherical with even contour. Confect- 

 shaped granules as seen in Golgi preparations (figs. 69, 70) are 

 perhaps due to the shrinking effect of the reagents. Small 

 granules appear homogeneous, while in larger ones a clear dis- 

 tinction can be made out between a deeply staining cortex and a 

 faintly staining main-mass (figs. 60, 61). In rare cases the fatty 

 granules can occur in the portions above the nucleus (fig, 70). 



3. Genesis. From the above observation that the fat-like 

 granules are situated near the basal surface of the cell, the ques- 

 tion arises whether they are not derived from the blood- or lymph- 

 vessels. I will answer this in the negative, for it can clearly be 

 seen that they take origin here from a certain constituent of the 

 cell. 



In preparation fixed in osmic acid or Meves' fluid and stained 

 with iron-haematoxylin, we can easily find those cells which con- 

 tain no fat-like granules, but some tortuous mitochondrial fila- 

 ments running horizontally between the nucleus and the basal 

 surface of the cell (fig. 56). Next, we can find in the same por- 

 tion of other cells chondriocontes carrying small spherical enlarge- 

 ments in their course (figs. 57, 61, 63); the latter can be so 



