ISOTONIC SALINE AND DISTILLED WATER AS SOLVENTS 505 



varies in the different segments of the renal tubules ; the 

 glomeruli are somewhat shrunken, while there is absence of 

 shrinkage in the other portions of the renal tubules, i. e. the 

 fixation is fair in the first and second convoluted tubules, 

 in the ascending and descending portions of the loops of Henle, 

 and in the collecting tubules. 



(2) 6 per cent. Mercuric Chloride in Distilled 

 Water. — Liver.— Fixation normal. There is no distortion of 

 the red blood-corpuscles in the sinusoids. Duodenum. — Both 

 epithelium and muscle are well preserved. Kidney. — Some 

 glomerular shrinkage ; the other elements of the renal tubules 

 are normally fixed. 



(3) 5 per cent. Formol in 0-9 per cent. NaCl. — 

 Liver. — Cells normal in size and shape. No distortion of 

 the red blood-corpuscles. . Duodenum. — Epithelium well pre- 

 served ; some shrinkage of the fibres in the muscle-layers. 

 Kidney. — No distortion of the glomeruli ; there are small areas 

 in the medullary rays showing swelling of the tubule cells — 

 especially in the loops of Henle. Sometimes the swelling of 

 the renal epithelium is so marked that the lumina of the tubules 

 are almost obliterated. 



(4) 5 per cent. Formol in Distilled Water. — 

 Liver. — There is neither shrinkage nor swelling of the cells. 

 Examination of iron haematoxylin sections with the high power 

 reveals faulty fixation of the ground cytoplasm, in that the 

 latter has the appearance of having been partially dissolved by 

 the fixative. The red blood-corpuscles in the sinusoids are 

 not distorted. Duodenum.— Epithelium well preserved ; slight 

 shrinkage of the fibres in the muscle-layer. Kidney. — Both 

 glomeruli and tubules are slightly shrunken. 



Note on the Effect of using Hypertonic Saline 

 as a Solvent for Mercuric Chloride and 

 F r m 1 . 



To ascertain whether increasing the concentration of the 

 NaCl would produce cell-shrinkage, observations were made 

 on amphibian and mammalian tissues. The fixatives already 



