Solution | Time required to dissolve 
| Tendon | Adrenal reticulum | Lymph gland reticulum 
HCL 05 %, | 3'/, min. 10 min. 11'/, min. 
KOH 0,13%, | 33 min. 148/, min 22 min. 
In both HCL and KOH the tendon was completely dissolved in 
the time specified and the solutions remained clear. The framework 
of the adrenal and lymph gland, on the other hand, did not dissolve 
entirely, but remained as a finely granular detritus which persisted, 
even after boiling for 35 minutes. 
While the figures in the above table show extreme differences in 
the time required for the tendon and adrenal framework to dissolve, 
the figures in the case of the reticulum are considerably less than 
those obtained by Mau. This may be partly explained by the fact 
that the tissue was allowed to remain in the solutions 2 hours be- 
fore boiling, while MALL only permitted his to remain one hour, and, 
partly, because MALL used in his experiments frozen sections of the 
spleen which contains the most resistant type of reticulum. Other 
experiments were made to test the reaction of the adrenal framework 
with cold solutions of HCL and KOH of varying strengths and these 
gave results similar to those obtained by MALL. 
That most of the periglandular tissue and a considerable portion 
of the outer layer of the capsule is made up of white fibrous tissue 
can be shown by placing the gland with its surrounding tissue in 
strong KOH (8—10°,). All of the periglandular connective tissue 
and much of the outer part of the capsule soon dissolves leaving the 
smooth inner layer of reticulum which begins to disintegrate at a 
much later period. This white fibrous portion of the capsule can be 
readily seen in SPALTEHOLZ preparations (Fig. 2, C). Although no 
effort was made to obtain reticulin from the adrenal framework, it is, 
nevertheless, undoubtedly true reticulum, but viewed from the stand- 
point of resistance, it occupies a position midway between the most 
and least resistant types which Mau found in the spleen. 
The description of the microscopic anatomy of the adrenal ret- 
iculum is based on a careful study of sections prepared by the methods 
of MALL and SPALTEHOLZ. At first sight it appeared that the 
pictures obtained in this way were quite different but more careful 
observation showed that essentially the same structures were preserved 
in each instance and that apparent differences were due simply to the 
