322 Granule Cells of Paneth in Intestinal Glands of Mammals 



holding cells, others in the cylindrical cells. I have not been able to assure 

 myself definitely of the occurrence of mitoses in the cells of Paneth. The 

 small size of these cells and their more irregular shape and arrangement 

 make the exact determination of the nature of the mitotic cells somewhat 

 difficult. 



The distribution of the cells of Paneth in the intestinal epithelium 

 of the opossum, the occurrence of the fully loaded cells in the surface 

 epithelium and of immature cells in the gland cannot be reconciled in 

 any way with Bizzozero's view that they are young cells which only achieve 

 their full development as mucus-secreting goblet cells, nor, indeed, with 

 any view except that they are specific elements engaged in the production 

 of a special secretion. 



The material from the guinea pig proved the most fruitful in results 

 as regards the cytological characters of the cells of Paneth and in this 

 animal results were obtained which bring the cells of Paneth into line 

 with other sero-zymogenic cells such as the cells of the parotid gland, 

 the chief cells of the fundus glands and the pancreatic cell. 



At first, considerable difficulty was experienced in obtaining accurate 

 fixation of the granules. Aqueous sublimate, Bensley's alcohol-bi- 

 chromate-bichloride mixture, and Kopsch's formaline bichromate mix- 

 ture, were tried with only partial success. A few of the cells at the 

 very edge of the section, in these imperfect fixations, would be found to 

 have retained the granules while from the majority of the cells they had 

 either been removed entirely or only retained in an imperfect and dis- 

 torted form. Very frequent in these cases were the crescent-shaped 

 granules described by Nicolas in the Paneth cells as one of the stages in 

 the secretory history of the cells. A great deal of the work was done on 

 material fixed in 10 per cent formaldehyde which penetrated somewhat 

 better than the other fluids mentioned above, although in this fixing 

 fluid the crescentic-shaped granule was common. When the work was 

 nearly completed we succeeded in obtaining complete fixation of the 

 granules by means of a combination of equal parts of alcoholic sublimate 

 and Kopsch's fluid. In preparations fixed in this mixture the granules 

 retained their round form and were perfectly fixed in all the cells of the 

 material. 



For staining, Bensley's neutral gentian was employed with good success 

 to differentiate Paneth cells, the granules of which stained intensely 

 violet, from goblet cells which remain colorless or faintly violet. Another 

 method which has rendered great service is staining in iron haematoxylin 

 followed by mucicarmine. By this method the granules of the Paneth 

 cells are stained deep blue-black, those of the goblet cells carmine red. 



