20 



Scientific Proceedings (86). 



120 (1298) 



A new method of tissue culture for accurate and rapid measure- 

 ments of the growth. 



By H. Krigel (by invitation). 



[From the Department of Cancer Research of the Montefiore Hospital 



and Home.] 



The new method of culture consists in placing the tissue in 

 capillary tubes instead of hanging drop, which was employed 

 heretofore. The glass tube consists of two parts: one part, 

 about 1 mm. in diameter, is used for handling by the operator, 

 the other part, drawn out to about 0.3 mm. in diameter, is filled 

 with the liquid medium, into which is placed the tissue to be 

 cultivated. The thickness of the walls of this second part of the 

 tube is less than 0.1 mm. The length of the whole tube is about 

 2 inches. 20 such tubes are placed with the thin ends down into 

 a small beaker. A few drops of fluid are poured into the beaker, 

 and this fluid through capillarity fills the tubes. The whole is 

 placed into a test tube and may be sterilized and cooled without 

 handling the individual tubes. A piece of tissue about 0.5 mm. 

 in its widest diameter is placed into the wide part of each tube 

 and then by the aid of a very fine glass rod immersed into the 

 fluid, then with a piece of dry cotton attached to the thin end 

 of the tube a drop of the fluid withdrawn and at the same time 

 the tissue moved deeper in the fluid. The tissue becomes 

 elongated and grows only at both ends and consequently in one 

 direction. It is therefore quite easy to measure the longitudinal 

 increase in size with accuracy of nearly °f a millimeter. The 

 narrow end of each tube is closed with sealing wax and the thick 

 end by a gas flame. As a result of this manner of sealing the tube 

 the piece of tissue falls out without effort on breaking off of the 

 thin end of the tube. 



For microscopical study 3 tubes are fastened to a micro- 

 scopical slide and placed on a mechanical stage. The specimen 

 may then be connected with a projection apparatus or a measuring 

 device. The experiments were conducted with a solution con- 



