1904-5.] ON THE ABSORPTION OF FaT IN THE INTESTINE. 255 
blood corpuscles and desquamated epithelium carried along by this move- 
ment and even saw fat droplets lashed into the interior of the. epithelial 
cells. These phenomena he watched for three quarters of an hour. He 
could not, however, confirm these results upon spring and summer frogs, 
but did so once more on winter frogs. Fortunatow*, likewise, on two 
occasions, claims to have seen a motion like that of cilia in the striae. 
‘One asks why the same should not be observed in spring and summer frogs 
and, with Heidenhain, what the cutting of the nerve roots has to do with 
it, yet I think the view is not by any means so fantastical as later investi- 
gators suppose. Schafer rejects it on the ground that small particles of 
carmine are not picked up by the epithelium. The physical properties 
of such particles are very different from those of very minute fat droplets 
and consequently one should not expect to find the same result in both 
cases. The occurrence of fat particles in the striated border as Kischen- 
‘sky’s and my own observations show can only he explained asa result of 
the physical activity on the part of the striated border. 
The most striking evidence regarding the occurrence of fat particles 
in the striated border is to be found in preparations treated with scarlet 
red, as described under Methods of Study. 
When such sections are examined with an oil-immersion lens the 
appearance found is like that represented in Fig. 13. Large and small 
drops are seen within the cells while very minute, but nevertheless, quite 
distinct globules are seen in the striated border. Their distribution is 
not uniform. In some parts of the specimen no such globules are present, 
in others they are few, while other portions again show numerous beadlets, 
such variations depending, doubtless, upon the different periods of activity 
on the part of the cells. Often the globules are irregularly scattered 
throughout the border, but one can frequently see rows of beadlets run- 
ning parallel to the striz and occasionally a line of fat running the whole 
length of the same and having the appearance of an elongated fat droplet. 
Having satisfied myself that fat droplets could be demonstrated in the 
striated border of guinea pigs I made observations, with the aid of scarlet 
red, on the intestinal epithelium of frogs, cats, rabbits, dogs and Necturi 
(lake lizards). The frogs and lizards were in the starving condition, 
and the material obtained from them was placed in five per cent. chloral 
hydrate solution over night and teased the next morning. There is 
considerable variation in the strie in all these animals, that of the 
rabbit being the coarsest, and in consequence best suited for demon- 
strating the border fat. To the first rabbit I gave 20 c.c. olive 
* Pfliiger’s Arch., Vol. 14, p. 288. 
