ON THE STRUCTURAL ALTERATIONS OBSERVED 
IN NERVE CELLS* 
By W. B. WARRINGTON, M.D., M.R.C.P., 
Demonstrator in Pathology, University College Liverpool 
Plate XI and four Figures in Text. 
I. Of the anterior horns of the spinal cord after section of the posterior roots. 
II. After the division of the axons belonging to them. 
The object of this investigation is an enquiry into the nature of certain structural changes which 
occur in nerve-cells whose functional state has been altered, either by a cutting off of the afferent 
impulses which normally impinge upon them, or by the loss of continuity in their axons. 
Method of Preparation of the Tissue 
Throughout my method of preparation of the tissue for examination was as follows : — 
Immediately after death pieces of brain or spinal cord were taken about 0.3 cm. in thickness and 
fixed in a saturated solution of perchloride of mercury for 12 to 24 hours, washed in running 
water for 24 to 48 hours, hardened in gradually ascending grades of alcohol for 24 hours each, 
and then for from three to six hours in absolute alcoliol. Tlie blocks of tissue were then cleared 
in xylol, and after saturation for several hours in xylol paraffin and paraffin, embedded and sections 
cut, usually 7 in thickness, occasionally 3 ^. Ribbons of sections were floated from warm 
water on to a clean slide and heated in an oven at 37" C. for several liours. 
The method of staining used was that described by Held,! viz., a double stain of erythrosin 
and methylene blue according to the following formula : erythrosin i grm., glacial acetic acid 
3 drops, water 150 cm. 
Stain for about five seconds ; wash in water, then stain and warm in a solution of the 
following composition : methylene blue 3.75 grms., sapo Venet. 1.75 grms., water 1000 cm. 
This is diluted with an equal volume of 5 ^ solution of acetone. I have, however, omitted the 
addition of Venetian soap and acetone without impairing the effect. 
After washing, the sections are treated with absolute alcohol for a few seconds, which 
differentiates the colours as well as dehydrating, and shortens the process, cleared in xylol and 
mounted in Canada balsam. 
The Normal Cell (sec Plate). 
Prepared in this way a normal cell of the central nervous system has the following 
characteristics : — 
I. The axis cylinder stains red, and can be seen to arise from a crescentic shaped elevation 
of the cell body. It is quite free from the Nissl bodies. 
* Reprinted from the 'Journal of Physiology,' vol. xxiii, June, 1898. \ Hehl. Arch. f. Anat. u. Phys. Anat. Abtheil. 1S95. 
