190 Retrogressive Processes. 



power of nervous conduction. Its consequence to the life of the 

 individual varies with the importance of the affected organ. 

 Atrophy of one of the bilaterally situated organs may be corrected 

 (compensated) by hypertrophy of the other, as in atrophy of one 

 kidney or of one lobe of the thyroid gland. 



General atrophy of the organs involving the musculature, the 

 general fat of the body and the glands, associated with anaemia and 

 resulting from general disturbances of nutrition, is known as 

 cachexia (i] Kaxe^la, a bad condition; from ij ?|ts, condition, and * 

 KaKbs , bad), or when a phenomenon of old age, as marasmus 

 (tiapalvu, to fade). 



Albuminous Degeneration or Cloudy Swelling. 



Abnormal metabolic processes and lesions of the cellular proto- 

 plasm may often manifest themselves by increase of cellular volume 

 and the appearance of densely packed fine dust-like albuminous 

 particles in the cytoplasm, with consequent obscuration of the . 

 nucleus and the production of a turbidity in the cell substance. By 

 treatment with acetic acid (two per cent.) or potassium hydrate 

 (one per cent.) these granules are dissolved and the nucleus be- 

 comes clearly visible. Their solution in excess of acetic acid, brown 

 coloration with iodine and acquirement of a bright yellow tint 

 with nitric acid (xanthoprotein reaction) indicate the albuminous 

 character of these granules. Various cells, particularly those of 

 glandular type, are normally granular, but as a rule the nucleus is 

 easily made out and the cells are of their fixed size and shape ; 

 while the pathological granulation is distinguished by the swelling 

 and irregularity of outline of the cells and by the loss of their nor- 

 mal structural characteristics. In muscle fibres, which show the 

 change particularly well, the transverse striations are lost and the 

 myoplasm is filled with fine dust-like granules reminding one of 

 particles of India ink; hepatic and renal epithelium looks swollen, 

 expanded beyond the physiological limits, the former no longer 

 arranged in columns (spoken of as dissociation by Browicz), the 

 renal cells narrowing the uriniferous tubules to occlusion. 



In sections this turbidity is usually not easily observed, being cleared 

 up by the processes of preparation (alcohol, xylol, etc.). The structural 

 lesion may also be inferred in cloudy swollen cells by the disappearance 

 of Altniann's granules (bioblasts). (Altmann claimed that in the cells 

 of the liver and kidneys there are fine granules around the nucleus ar- 

 ranged in regular rows, which could be uniformly demonstrated by certain 

 staining methods. In cloudy swelling these granules are no longer recog- 

 nizable.) 



