FAT PHANEROSIS IN AUTOLYSIS 409 



sion be allowed, stalled in the sand more exactly stated, has 

 found its own natural solution. It would be difficult to fore- 

 go the opportunity to add here a moral reflection that, al- 

 though in the determination of private differences it is not 

 always possible to get along without disturbances of temper, 

 it should always be a rule to deal with differences of scientific 

 opinion with equanimity and without feeling ; in confidence 

 that, with the progress of knowledge, that which is right is 

 bound to win recognition entirely of its own strength. The 

 writer might, however, in an objective manner equally add 

 that here, as well as elsewhere, it is much easier and more 

 convenient to give good advice to others than to practice it 

 personally. 



Thus far, we have, however, been dealing with but one 

 side of the problem of formation of fat from protein, that 

 which is manifest to us in metabolic experimentation. The 

 question, however, has many other sides for consideration 

 in turn. A historical development of the question from the 

 beginning may be dispensed with, the writer contenting him- 

 self with an explanation of its present status. 



Fat Phanerosis in Autolysis. Probably it will be best 

 to consider first the simpler phenomena and then pass on to 

 the more complicated, taking up first the subject of " fatty 

 degeneration" of tissues occurring in extracorporeal auto- 

 lysis. Here there is at no time a possibility of the fat being 

 introduced by the blood stream and deposited as an infiltra- 

 tion. Since, as has been noted by numerous authors, 27 in 

 tissue autolysis there are histological pictures reminding one 

 fully of fatty degeneration, two possibilities are here pre- 

 sented : either fat is being formed de novo through fermen- 

 tative changes or else fat which was previously present, but 

 which was not directly visible and was not demonstrable by 

 the usual methods of staining, is being made appreciable to 

 us by the autolytic process. This last has recently been ex- 



27 Cf . the older Literature upon Fatty Degeneration in Autolysis : G. Rosen- 

 feld, Ergebn. d. Physiol., 2, 89-94, 1903. 



