THE RECOVERY FROM DEPRESSION 469 



deposition of raw food material. It fails to resorb the chromatic 

 substance from the nucleus, hence there ensues a progressive 

 diminution of that substance as it is used up without adequate 

 restorative effort, which leads to absolute dechromatization. 

 Being of such genesis, depression can effect the resting as well as 

 the active cell. 



The nuclear picture is of a cell which for its functional stage 

 shows an increase in measured volume and objective substances. 

 To account for this there is in the first place the chromatin, be- 

 cause some of what is synthesized of preformed material is not 

 resorbed. Second, the nucleolar substance at the least holds 

 its own because further synthesis in which it is consumed has 

 stopped for lack of the cytoplasmic compounds. There is evi- 

 dence, in addition, that the nucleolar substance is actually in- 

 creased and that the nucleus synthesizes this itself (Dolley, '14, 

 p. 489, in agreement with Verworn, '91). The nucleus stands, 

 therefore, well-prepared; it is the cytoplasm which fails to 

 reciprocate. 



The plasma picture is one devoid of basic staining substance, 

 murky, reddish and granular from the albuminous deposit. It 

 is not only relatively small to its nucleus but absolutely small in 

 comparison with its normal stage on accou^nt of the loss of chro- 

 matic substance and failure of continuous primary synthesis. 



The earliest and most striking feature of recovery is the return 

 of the extranuclear chromatic (Nissl) substance. This is intel- 

 ligible in the light of the nucleus-plasma relation and the state 

 of the nucleus. As soon as the plasma begins to recover its re- 

 sorptive and its synthetic powers, it draws on the accumulated 

 nuclear chromatic substance, and also finds ready abundant 

 nucleolar substance for the immediate new synthesis of chro- 

 matin. This fact of early return of chromatin when referred to 

 the state of the nucleus corroborates fully for the depression cycle 

 the R. Hertwig ('02) theory of chromatin formation. It is the 

 diametric opposite of recovery from function, which is slow 

 because it involves primarily the synthesis of nucleolar substance. 



For example, in Experiment Anesthetic Recovery 13, one-half 

 of the six periods of prolonged etherization were separated from 



