THE LACHRYMAL GLAND 187 



do not preserve their continuity as long, however, in the salt 

 solution as in the serum. 



Fresh tissues mounted in distilled water soon lose (in five 

 minutes) their granules. As a consequence the nuclei which 

 are round or oval become very prominent. They are seen for 

 the most part in the basal portion of the cells and are opaque 

 and homogeneous. No nuclear granules are seen. In no in- 

 stance are the nuclei seen to be angular and flattened as in many 

 fixed and stained preparations. They have in all likelihood 

 taken up enough water to be swollen when observed under 

 these conditions. The water is absorbed before the granules 

 have sufficiently disappeared for the process to be observed. 

 If 2 per cent salt solution is drawn under the slide after the 

 granules have disappeared in distilled water they reappear again. 

 This phenomenon was observed by Noll in the lachrymal gland 

 of the cat and by Langley and others in other serous glands. 



When fresh tissues are mounted in five per cent solution of 

 hydrochloric acid or sodium bicarbonate the granules become 

 indistinct — disappearing much more rapidly in the former solu- 

 tion than in the latter. An intracellular network remains after 

 treatment with these solutions, the meshes of which were formerly 

 occupied by the granules. This net work should be interpreted 

 in the sense of Bensley "optical sections of the continuous cyto- 

 plasmic partitions which separate the granule holding spaces 

 from one another." 



Thin sections of fresh lachrymal gland were mounted in the 

 following vital stains in physiological salt solution with these 

 results : 



1) naphthol blue — granules stained a purplish blue. 



2) neutral red — granules were very faintly stained. I did not 

 observe here prozymogen granules more deeply stained as ob- 

 served by Bensley in the pancreas of the guinea pig. 



3) janus green — the mitochondrial elements were stained. 

 This will be discussed under that caption. 



4) trypan blue — a diffuse light blue stain, granules only 

 faintly stained. 



