Fir.KO[;s TISSUE riu)i)iici':r) as a jjeaotion to injimiy. 605 



tlie whole of the affected area (fief. 4). It was vei-y notice- 

 able in our preparations that the degenerated area was 

 always larger in specimens that had heeii implanted with the 

 digestive gland for some time (up to six days), than in those 

 implanted for shorter periods^ and thus it would seem that 

 the range of action of the digestive ferments gradually 

 increases. The degenerated area was always found sur- 

 rounded by a layer of agglutinated corpuscles^ though in 

 different specimens this la3^er varied considerably in thickness. 

 It would seem that while the degenerative process is spread- 

 ing the layei'S of corpuscles must be continually dissolved, 

 and others formed a little further back by the spread of the 

 digestive ferments. During this process the fibroblasts 

 undergo division as in the case of the gill-tissue, but while 

 the inflammation is nnich more acute, the multiplication of 

 fibroblasts is not so rapid, and they are not nearly so notice- 

 able a feature in the sections. In the form of rounded cells, 

 with oval or spherical nuclei, they migrate in small numbers 

 towards the layer of agglutinated blood-corpuscles. Here 

 they share the fate of the corpuscles, being dissolved by the 

 digestive ferments, and accordingly there is no formation of 

 fibrous tissue. 



We were never able to keep the animals alive for more 

 than six days. At the end of this time all that remained of 

 the digestive gland was the brown pigment-granules and a 

 little epithelial debris. This was surrounded by a space 

 from which most of the muscular tissue had been dissolved, 

 and this again by a relatively large area of degenerated 

 muscle-fibres. Finally, the whole was surrounded by a layer 

 of agglutinated blood-corpuscles, into which a few fibro- 

 blasts were making their way. 



These experiments show that the protective layer of cor- 

 puscles must very completely shut off the space it encloses from 

 the neighbouring tissue. If this were not the case the digestive 

 ferments, once they had gained access to the blood, would 

 rapidly become disseminated over the whole body. Instead 

 of this, we have distinct evidence that there is a slow and 



