TIic Faftv Chaiii'cs. 



195 



pulpv fatty remnants of the tissue may take place; these fat 

 crystals form clusters of needles. a])parently not rigid, but seem- 

 inglv easily bent ( margaric acid crystals), or may appear in the 

 form of thin ])lates w ith their corners broken out and superimposed 

 upon one another in a step-like fashion (cliolcstcriii plates, turning 

 red with the addition of sulphuric acid, and upon further addition 

 of iodine taking a violet or blue color). 



The difference between fatty infiltration and fatty degeneration 

 as well as their genesis (whether the fat present in the cells is 

 derived from the fat brought to them or is produced by a local 

 splitting process) is in most cases impossible of determination; 

 sometimes even the microscopic picture is confused and even in 

 undoubted infiltration the cellular protoplasm may exhibit appear- 

 ances of alteration. ^loreover. it is often impossible to tell whether 

 the destruction of the cell was brought about by the fat accunuila- 

 tion, or because of some special aft'ection of the cell itself and the 

 fat in the latter case merely an associated or resultant phenomenon 

 of the destructive change. 

 Theoretically a dift'erence 

 may exist in the proportion 

 of moisture retained in the 

 tissue. In fatty infiltration 

 the water is forced out of the 

 tissue and may fall to below 

 50 per cent. : while in fatty 

 degeneration the proportion 

 of water in the tissue (75 to 

 78 per cent.) remains normal 

 (Perls). In fatty infiltration 

 the addition of fat to a liver 

 may sometimes be so marked 

 that it exceeds 40 per cent. ; 



while the fatty degenerated organ scarcely ever contains more ^hm 

 8 per cent. (Perls). 



It remains, therefore, a disputed question whether the fat is 

 formed by cellular function or whether it is entirely derived from 

 the food and is hence only transported fat. Undoubtedly the supply 

 of fat or carbohydrates plays an important part both in physiological 

 and pathological fatt\' degeneration. The studies of Rosenfeld 

 indicate that in experimental fatty degeneration of the liver, the 

 fat of this organ is not necessarily produced therein, but is 



I'attj- degeneration of liver cells : a. liver 

 "cell of a man dead from acute phos- 

 phorus poisoning, in physiological salt 

 solution ; b. the same after removal 

 of the fat hy alcohol and oil of 

 origanum ; c, fattj' degenerated liver 

 celf of a woman dead from septico- 

 p.vjpmia, in physiological salt solu- 

 tion; X 600. (After Tliom.-i.) 



