METABOLISM AND THE DISTRIBUTION OF MATERIAL 229 



persons dying as the result of acute infectious diseases. The cells 

 involved are enlarged and more or less cloudy; macroscopically, the 

 organ involved appears at times as if it had been boiled; microscopic- 

 ally, granular deposits are seen. 



(yellowish)7eMte 

 white nucleus 



d 

 FIG. 40. 



Reproduced from Fischer's "Oedema and Nephritis," second edition, by permission of Messrs. 

 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 



M. H. FISCHER experimentally produced cloudy swelling in the 

 livers and kidneys of rabbits by placing them in distilled water or 

 dilute acids. Addition of various salts delayed or hastened the de- 

 velopment of cloudy swelling. According to M. H. FISCHER, whether 

 the swelling occurs pathologically or experimentally, it is explained 

 just as is edema; as the result of the production of acids in the 

 injured tissues, they swell. The cloudiness runs parallel with the 

 precipitation of proteins, especially that of casein by acids. The pro- 

 duction and disappearance of granules in parenchymatous cells in 

 the presence of additional acid occurs exactly like the precipitation 

 and re-solution of casein upon increasing the concentration of acid. 

 The "cloudy swelling" is, therefore, the result of acid production in 

 the tissues, though the swelling and the clouding are two processes 

 entirely independent of each other. 



As has been stated already, M. H. FISCHER'S theory was actively 

 discussed and contradicted. Before approaching this discussion we 

 shall present a brief resume. FISCHER maintains that edema results 



