14 



Significance of the Granule Cells. 

 The significance of granule cells in general has not been deter- 

 mined. Their distribution here in the mucosa speaks against their 

 being connected with the process of mucin formation. I see no posi- 

 tive conclusions to be drawn from their relation to the reticulum on 

 the on hand, nor to the blood on the other. The distribution of the 

 acidophiles in the ditferent regions of the tract suggests to my mind 

 that they may play some role in the process of absorption, possibly 

 as stored metabolic products of some sort. The granules are not fat, 

 not pure fat at any rate, for after fixation by osmic acid they are not 

 dissolved by xylol, ether, or creosote; osmic acid does not give the 

 characteristic dense black shining appearance as it does on pure fat. 

 However, they retain their black color after fixation by osmic acid 

 when stained with acid fuchsin in aniline-water, and do not take the 

 fuchsin stain; also they are decolorized more rapidly than the nuclei 

 by iron alum after Heidenhain's haematoxylin. The two latter facts 

 suggest fat, but the granules do not stand the osmic acid test. The 

 foregoing reactions do not preclude their being fatty in nature. (See 

 MuRLiN, 1902, pp. 327—338.) They are not albumose for, although 

 they are rendered insoluble in water by formalin, Flemming's mixture 

 and sublimate, they are also rendered insoluble by picric acid. That 

 the granules are peptones of some sort, is suggested by their preci- 

 pitation by sublimate and Flemming's mixture and their staining with 

 acid fuchsin after these fixatives, and by their solubility in alcohol. 

 (See MuKLiN, pp. 315 and 357.) 



Summary. 



1) The mucosa of the pig's intestine contains numerous granule 

 cells of which two general types can be distinguished: a) those with 

 basophile granules, and b) those with acidophile granules. 



2) The basophile granule cells are sparingly found, and have no 

 definite arrangement in the mucosa. The granules are best fixed in 

 alcohol, and stain only in basic alcoholic stains (best with methylene 

 blue), since they are soluble in water after alcoholic fixation. The 

 cells are round, oval or elongated and often have long processes which 

 seem to be in close relation with the reticulum. The granules are 

 coarse and occur in the processes as well as in the cell bodies. The 

 nuclei are of two classes, one staining deeply, the other faintly. 



3) The acidophile cells are very numerous. They are round or 

 polygonal, and often provided with short processes which come in close 



