ABSENCE OF CHROIMATOLYTIC CHANGE IN THE 

 CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE WOODCHUCK 

 (MARMOTA MONAX) DURING HIBERNATION 



A. T. RASMUSSEX AND J. A. MYERS 



Frimi llic I'hi/Hialogical Lahoralorij, Medical College, Cornell University, Ithaca, 



New York 



SIX FICIUKS (two plates) 



IN TRODUCTIOX 



Since the discovery hy Xissl in ISS.") that \\w clironioi^hilous 

 granules in the cytophisni of nerve cells — grannies whicli had 

 already been described by Flennning ('S2) and which von Len- 

 hossek later tenned tigroides, though now more generally spoken 

 of as Nissl gi'anules are iiitens(>ly stained by basic aniline dyes, 

 especially by nietliyleiic bhic tlic (lis])()siti()n of these granides, 

 under numerous ])hysi()l(»ui('al and ])ath()logical conditions, has 

 been the subj(>('1 of umcli >tiid>-. From the extensive functional 

 alterations that numerous authors (\'alentin, Dubois, Merz- 

 bacher, etc.) have reported to occur in the nen'ous system 

 during hibernation, and from the morphological variations 

 which are said to take i)lace in the nerve cells in certain othei- 

 conditions, such as sleep and star\'ation, one would natm-ally 

 expect to find marked changes, especially in the Nissl granules, 

 during hibernation. This state, as is well known, is attended 

 in some animals by nlmost continuous sleep and profound torpor 

 for four months and even longer, during which time no food 

 whatever may have been eaten and the body temperature has 

 been reduced to but a few degrees above the freezing point. 



HISTORICAL 



An examination of the Uterature revealed the fact that some 

 observers have reported marked structural changes in the nerve 

 cells during hibernation. Levi ('98) in the toad (Bufo vulgaris) 



391 



THE JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE NEUROLOGY, VOL. 26, NO. 4 



