FATTY DEGENERATION OF RENAL EPITHELIUM. 389 



tirely opaque zone is thereby produced. Even in places, 

 where the parts were originally not transparent, but 

 only translucent, a complete opacity may be seen to de- 

 clare itself in proportion as the process of fatty degene- 

 ration progresses. 



Consider, for example, a kidney in the stage of fatty 

 degeneration. I show you here a preparation which 

 does not present the ordinary granular atrophy of 

 Bright's disease, but a more chronic and smooth form. 

 The convoluted uriniferous tubules of the cortex are 

 very much enlarged, and the whole of its epithelium is 

 in a state of fatty degeneration,, so that within the tu- 

 bules there is really nothing else to be seen than a 

 densely crowded mass of fat-granules. If however 

 microscopical sections are very carefully prepared, the 

 fat-granules are in the first instance still seen collected 

 in isolated groups (as granule-cells or granule-globules, 

 Fig. 98) ; but upon slight pressure the mass disperses in 

 such a way, that the whole uriniferous tubule is uni- 

 formly filled with finely emulsive contents. Even with 

 the naked eye you can distinctly recognize the change ; 

 and as soon as one has become accustomed to discri- 

 minate with some degree of accuracy between these 

 less obvious conditions, there is not the slightest diffi- 

 culty in discovering from the aspect of such a part the 

 presence of a change in the renal epithelium, and that 

 indeed of this particular kind, for there is no other form 

 of change which could be compared to it. If you 

 examine the surface of the kidney you will perceive 

 that over the rather greyish, transculent ground, upon 

 which the Stellulse Yerheynii* stand out, small opaque 

 spots are scatterred in the most varied manner, most of 

 them forming not real points, but usually small segments 

 of an arc. These will always be found to be parts of 



* The stellate veins. TRANSL. 



