SECRETORY FUNCTIONS IN HUMAN PLACENTA 505 



tosomes are mostly rod-shaped, and they crowd together on 

 one side of the nucleus, while on the other they appear in a re- 

 markably long, granular string (Fadenkorner) . In figures 45 to 

 48 the c(41s have exceedingly varied shapes, and the nucleus 

 trends toward one side of the cell close to its superficial layer. 

 The cell bodies are filled with numerous irregular-sized vacuoles, 

 which present a more or less distinct foamy structure. The 

 plastosomes are mostly short and rod-shaped and they are to be 

 found in the proplotasm between the vacuoles. Some of them 

 are arranged in a long row along the walls of the vacuoles, while 

 others are found in groups in a certain section. The lipoid gran- 

 ules are, in general, small in number, and their sizes are irregu- 

 lar, some of them finding themselves distinctly at the center of 

 the vacuoles (e.g., fig. 46). 



In the various cells described above it will be observed that 

 the nuclei are generally dark-colored, with indistinct nuclear 

 network in most of the cases, though the nucleoli contained are 

 conspicuous enough. Figure 49 is extremely different in its 

 appearance from these cells. The cell body presents a vacuolar 

 formation in high degree and the protoplasm proper can be 

 demonstrated in a small amount only along the surface of the 

 nucleus, at w^hich place only a few rod-shaped plastosomes are 

 found. The border membrane on the surface of the cell is very 

 distinct and the nucleus is different from that in the various cells 

 described previously in that it is clear and presents a large foamy 

 body. The nuclear network is somewhat distinct, and, besides, 

 there are conspicuous nucleoli. It must be generally stated that 

 this kind of cell appears very seldom. In figure 50 the cell body 

 presents an equally high vacuolar formation as in the former, and, 

 in addition to that, the vacuolar walls entirely disappear in some 

 places and so allow the inner spaces of the vacuoles to com- 

 municate with one another, thus clearly indicating the evidence 

 of the vacuoles having been agglutinated. A few more plas- 

 tosomes than in the former are found in groups in these cells, and, 

 besides, there is a small quantity of lipoid granules, mostly 

 within the vacuoles. What is especially peculiar about this 

 cell is that at the center of the cell body there appears a black- 



