447 



zymin-secreting epithelium is preserved in situ, though in a degener- 

 ated state. The superficial and intermediate epithelia are the first 

 to disappear, and usually cannot be recognised at all. The fundal 

 epithelium is never normal. The protoplasm of the cells loses its 

 granular appearance and stains deeply and nearly uniformly with eosin, 

 while in the nucleus the chromatin becomes massed together into a 

 single small shrivelled deeply-staining ball, or breaks up into several 

 smaller balls of that character. It never remains unaltered. The cells 

 presenting these characters may either remain attached to the base- 

 ment membrane of the glands or may lie in detached masses in the 

 lumen of the glands. Very often, too, leucocytes wander out from 

 the connective tissue beneath into the glands and lie among the 

 degenerated epithelial cells; these are generally of the eosinophile 

 variety, but the granules seem soon to lose their distinctive reaction, 

 and the leucocytes can then with difficulty be distinguished from the 

 degenerated epithelial cells. 



Sometimes this mixed mass of cells lies on the surface of the 

 mucous membrane and presents an appearance very much like that 

 to be described in the intestine and pyloric appendages. This material 

 probably represents the slimy substance mentioned by Miescher. 



The connective tissue septa lying between the glands fall together, 

 and in extreme cases the appearance presented is more like that of 

 granulation tissue from an ulcerated surface than a mucous membrane. 



Now, it is of course well known that in the stomachs of the higher 

 animals post-mortem changes, and notably post-mortem digestion, take 

 place often with great rapidity, and it was obviously of great import- 

 ance to make sure that the appearances just described were not due 

 to some such process, especially as the stomachs of the salmon from 

 the higher river reaches could not arrive in Edinburgh in less than 

 several hours. In order to resolve this difficulty, Dr. Noel Paton, 

 during the course of a fishing excursion, preserved a number of trout 

 stomachs and other parts of the alimentary tract, exactly as had been 

 done with the salmon, some absolutely fresh, others at intervals after 

 death of ten minutes, one hour, two hours, three hours, and six hours. 

 These were all cut and examined, and though I shall have to say 

 more about the pyloric appendages and intestines of these fish, it is 

 not necessary to describe the stomachs in detail, as it was found that 

 even six hours after death there was practically no post-mortem change. 

 It would not have been possible to have distinguished these stomachs 

 from those preserved at once. Even the superficial epithelium was 

 completely preserved, and the cells of the deeper parts of the glands 



