62 Notes from the Physiological Laboratory 



digestive process, the cell contents having become 

 lighter in color and less opaque. If, however, any 

 true digestion of the cells had occurred, it is evident 

 that many of these elements in different stages of 

 disintegration would have been seen. 



As a rule, we found that the several layers of the 

 bran presented an appearance not of having been 

 digested, but simply of having been subjected to 

 prolonged maceration. Thus the three coats of the 

 true bran while entirely unchanged were frequently 

 found separated from each other. We had expected 

 to find the fourth layer closely adherent to the third, 

 as is the case in dry bran, but in the majority of 

 specimens these two coats became separated, and 

 occasionally large sheets of "gluten-cells," to all 

 appearance perfectly normal, were seen. As a rule, 

 however, that portion of the faecal mass representing 

 the meal at which bran was taken 1 was found to 

 contain these thick-walled cells in nearly every 

 field. 



1 We did not find it needful to give with the bran any col- 

 oring matter to differentiate in the fasces the meal at which it 

 was taken, as the scales of bran were always a sufficient in- 

 dex. "When requisite, such differentiation may readily be 

 obtained by the method of Cramer (Zeitschr. f. Physiol. 

 Chem., vol. vi. p. 354), or that of Kubner (1. c.). 



