MITOCHONDRIA IN VERTEBRATE NERVE CELLS I 



Furst ('02, p. 389) described peculiar rings, threads and knots' 

 in the ganglion cells of salmon embryos, but he studied, in addi- 

 tion (p. 391), carp, Trutta fario, Coregonus laveretus, etc. He 

 states- that in the first place he only used Perenyi's fluid, but 

 that later he made use of sublimate acetic and other mixtures 

 without obtaining such good preparations as he did with Perenyi's 

 fluid. He says (p. 389) that these structures occurred in the 

 cytoplasm of cranial and spinal ganglion cells, but not in the 

 ganglion cells of the brain and spinal cord, which is rather ambigu- 

 ous. There is considerable difference of opinion among investi- 

 gators with regard to the nature of these bodies. Van der Stricht 

 ('09, p. 21) thinks that they are mitochondria, while Duesberg: 

 ('12, p. 806) states his conviction that they do not belong to 

 the category of plastosomes (mitochondria). Although I ac- 

 knowledge that mitochondria sometimes occur in the form of 

 rings, threads and knots, I consider that since the fixatives which, 

 he employed are not adapted for the demonstration of mito- 

 chondria, the absence of these strange structures in the ganglion 

 cells of the brain and spinal cord, together with a careful scrutiny 

 of his figures are insumiountable obstacles against the conclu- 

 sion that he was dealing with mitochondria. 



Motta-Coco and Lombardo ('03, p. 637) described certain 

 bodies which they called 'granulazioni fucsinofili' in the spinal 

 ganglion cells of the rabbit and frog. They state (p. 640) that 

 the spinal ganglion cells contain in their cytoplasm and nuclei 

 a certain number of fuchsinophile granules of variable dimen- 

 sions, which are situated in the interfibrillar spaces and in the 

 achromatic network of the nucleus. They employed Flemming's 

 fluid, Muller's fluid and a solution of chromic acid and formalin, 

 as fixatives. They stained with methylene blue, safranin and 

 eosin and by Levi's method of coloring with fuchsin and differ- 

 entiating in alcoholic picric acid. One gains the impression that 

 they believe their 'granulazioni fucsinofili' to be the same struc- 

 tures as those described by Levi ('96, p. 3). Motta-Coco ex- 

 tended the work in a second paper ('04). Duesberg ('12, p. 809) 

 asserts that the plastochondrial (mitochondrial) nature of these 

 bodies is very doubtful, and I am in accord with him, particu- 



