370 MR T. ARTHUR HELME ON HISTOLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS ON 



II. 36 Hours Post Partum. 



The muscle cells were examined fresh and after hardening. 



(a) Fresh. The individual fibres show very slight, if any further diminution in size, but their 

 outlines and the outlines of their nuclei are less regular. The cell substance is dimmer than during 

 pregnancy, so that the cells have a more hazy look. 



(b) Osmic acid. None of the cells show any appearance of fat. The outlines of the cells and 

 the cell contents are darkened to a greyish colour, but no blackened fat drops are present. 



(c) Picric or chromic acid. Gland epithelium is proliferating — typical nuclear figures in 

 numbers. 



The Connective Tissue. — The intercellular substance and the ground substance of the connective 

 tissue is very granular, but clears up very considerably under acetic acid. Treated with osmic 

 acid, in the cells beneath the peritoneum fine fat particles are seen ; they are also very numerous 

 in the peritoneal cells. The plasmodia are present in numbers, lying in the granular connective 

 tissue among the muscle bundles. 



III. 2\ Days Post Partum. 



The muscle cells were examined fresh and after hardening. 



(a) Fresh. The isolated fibres are translucent, somewhat refractile ; outlines indefinite when 

 several are together. Nucleus is recognised as a slightly dimmer part of the cell, with one 

 (generally) or two or sometimes three bright glistening nucleoli. 



The cell substance is fairly clear, very finely granular, almost homogeneous in appearance 

 (few distinct granules being outlinable). The isolated nuclei are quite homogeneous except for 

 one or two shining points. 



The intercellular substance and connective tissue ground substance are very granular. 



After acetic acid, the muscle cells swell up, becoming clearer and absolutely homogeneous ; at 

 first the nuclei are rendered more distinct, but later they too become pale and homogeneous, so that 

 their outline can no longer be recognised. The connective tissue also swells up and becomes clearer, 

 in many places not a granule remaining visible, the whole tissue being quite homogeneous in 

 appearance ; in other places, however, some larger granules (few in number) still persist. 



After potash, the nucleus becomes if anything more distinct, and the cell substance a little 

 clearer — perhaps only in contrast to the intercellular substance and the connective tissue, which 

 takes on a more granular appearance. 



(b) Hardened in Miiller's fluid. The muscle cells all show a diminution in volume, the nuclei 

 also are correspondingly smaller. The cell substance is not so refractile as in the 24 and 36 hours' 

 specimens — it has lost the peculiar dim hazy look, and instead is fairly clear, but slightly granular. 



(c) Osmic acid shows presence of no fat. 



IV. 3£ Days Post Partum. 



The muscle cells, examined when fresh, are very finely granular, having the appearance of 

 " roughened " glass, so that the nucleus is slightly hidden ; it becomes visible on the action of 

 acetic acid or glycerine, and shows a normal appearance. 



With a magnification of 1200 diameters, fine granules are seen in the cell substance. The 

 connective tissue shows a very granular appearance as before. Osmic acid shows no fat droplets in 

 the muscle cells. 



The connective tissue is even more granular than before, and in the subperitoneal cells fine fat 

 granules are seen. The peritoneal cells also contain a large amount of fat. 



The large granular connective tissue corpuscles are very numerous. The plasmodia are much 

 fewer in number, though still to be found both between the muscle bundles and in the submucous coat. 



The gland cells are undergoing proliferation. The whole uterus is much reduced in size ; the indi- 

 vidual muscle cells are still smaller than in the 2£ days' uterus, and the nuclei also are diminished. 



