STRUCTURE OF THE MAMMALIAN GASTRIO GLANDS. 365 



of the glaud have a more transparent protoplasm than those of 

 the body of the gland, and a nucleus compressed against the 

 base of the cell. Similar features have also been noted for the 

 glands of the badger and hedgehog by Oppel,i who calls 

 attention to the fact that in the hedgehog the neck cells 

 contain less protoplasm than the chief cells of the bottom of 

 the gland, and that this stains less readily with htematoxylin. 

 Bizzozero suggests that these cells may be a transitional type 

 between the cells of the gland duct and the fully developed 

 chief cells of the deeper portions. 



My attention was first attracted to these cells in the glands 

 of the greater curvature of the rabbit, in sections of which, 

 stained in haematoxylin, the chief cells appear as comparatively 

 large cubical cells with deeply staining protoplasm, whilst the 

 neck cells are small pyramidal structures which stain but 

 feebly. The question naturally arose whether this difference 

 was due to a different functional condition of the cells, or to 

 the cells being essentially different, and I turned for a solution 

 of the question to a study of the distribution of zymogen 

 granules in the gland. 



The stomach of the rabbit did not lend itself very readily to 

 this investigation on account of the comparatively short neck 

 that the glands of this animal possess, and because I was not 

 then able to fix the granules in any but the lowest portions of 

 the glands. I therefore resorted to a study of the glands of 

 the cat and dog, in which the neck region is relatively long. 

 I subsequently discovered that it was possible to fix perfectly 

 the granules in all parts of the glands of many mammals 

 by means of a modification of Foa's blood-fixing fluid, prepared 

 by mixing equal parts of a saturated solution of mercuric 

 chloride in 95 per cent, spirit, and a two to four per cent, 

 aqueous solution of potassium bichromate. I was also fortunate 

 enough to discover a means of staining in a distinctive fashion 

 with indulin these peculiar neck cells, and the use of these 

 methods has enabled me to extend the facts discovered in the 

 cat and dog to the rabbit and other mammals. 

 * 'Lehrbuch d. vergleicli. mik. Anat.,' 1896, 



