126 REPORT — 1855. 



obsen'ed by a few, and supposed by most to be a modified form of ciliated epithe- 

 lium. Observations made in the present year by Professors Scanzoni and KoUiker 

 show that the opinion of Donne is correct, and that this body is really an infusorial 

 animalcule. It occurs in most specimens of vaginal mucus, containing mucous or 

 pus- corpuscles, but is not a specific indication of syphilis. 



Professor Kblliker showed at the same time, parasitic vegetable productions in 

 the same mucus, which bore a close resemblance to the Alga occurring in the mouth, 

 named by Robin Leptothrix buccalis. 



A detailed description of these observations will appear in Scanzoni's ' Beitragen,' 

 &c. 



O71 a peculiar structure lately discovered in the Epithelial Cells of the 

 Small Intestines, together with some observations on the absorption of Fat 

 into the system. By Professor Kolliker, Wurzburg. 



The following are the principal results of these observations : — 



1. The cylindrical epithelium-cells of the small intestine of Mammalia, Birds and 

 Amphibia, present at their extremities, directed towards the intestinal cavity, a thick- 

 ened wall, in which, under favourable conditions, and with a good microscope, a 

 distinct fine striation is to be observed ; and which, though with greater difficulty, 

 and almost only in the rabbit with certainty, is to be perceived from above as a fine 

 punctuation. 



2. This thickened striated cell-wall, which is also easily to be seen in isolated 

 cells, sv.'eLls up in water or thin solutions to more than double its natural thickness ; 

 the striation becomes remarkably distinct, and passes as if into separate filaments 

 or fibriilse, so as to give the cell the appearance of being ciliated. At last water 

 destroys the whole border from without inwards, the inner part resisting longest. 

 Water also induces tv\o other changes in the intestinal cells ; first, it causes the 

 exudation from the uninjured cell of clear mucous drops, %hich have been erro- 

 neously represented as dilated cells ; and second, it often removes the thickened 

 membrane entirely. It is easy to distinguish, however, these two changes. 



3. In herbivorous mammaha the thickened striated wall is wanting in the cells 

 of the large intestine, and so it is also in Amphibia and Birds ; but in carnivorous 

 mammalia and in man there is observed a slight indication of it. In the stomach, 

 the membranes of the cylindrical cells are without any peculiar structure. 



4. In mammalia, fat becomes converted, previous to absorption, into immeasu- 

 rably fine molecules, and passes as such into the epithc''al cells. The larger fat- 

 globules, which are seen, in particular conditions, in perfectly fresh cells, do not 

 necessarily prove that the fat has entered in that form. 



5. In all animals, and in all portions of the intestine, there are found between 

 the common epithelial cells, other bodies of a granular structure, more club-shaped, 

 and generally without distinct nuclei, which are to be regarded as cells seen in the 

 act of regeneration, and burst at the upper end. 



From these facts, the following views and hypotheses are suggested : — 



1. The stripe in the thickened cell membrane may be pores or porous canals. 



2. If this supposition is right, it follows that we may regard these canals as 

 holding a direct relation to the absorption of fat ; but it is also possible that they 

 may have a more general signification, more especially in connexion with the 

 taking in and giving out of materials by means of cells. In favour of the first 

 view, it may be remarked, — a. That in many animals (herbivorous mammalia, am- 

 phibia, and birds in part) the thickened cell membranes exist only on the surface of 

 the small intestine, while they are wanting in the glands, and in the large intestine 

 and stomach, h. That cylindrical and ciliated epithelium of other localities presents 

 nothing of any structure which would indicate the existence of the porous canals, 

 c. That fat is absorbed in such fine molecules, that it is at least possible for these 

 to pass through the porous canals. 



The only fact which (always on the supposition that true porous canals exist) 

 is opposed to the supposition now stated, is this, that in carnivora and in man the 

 striated cell membrane is also found in the cells of the large intestine ; but this fact 



