12 
Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. [Sess. 
In the mucous layer three varieties of cells are found : 
(1) A cell with a large round or oval, relatively faintly staining nucleus. 
This appears to be a young connective tissue type of cell. 
(2) A cell with a small, round, darkly staining nucleus, comparable to a 
lymphoid cell. 
(3) A cell with an elongated, very darkly staining nucleus, similar to 
cells in fibrous tissue. 
In the wild rat the large cells are most numerous (fig. 5). The cells of 
the other types are few in number, and are found only in that part of the 
mucosa near the muscular coat. 
From the examination of this series of 86 animals, it is evident that 
in animals of the same age, and approximately of the same weight, living 
under similar conditions, the uteri may vary, within a limited range, in 
size and development. The muscular coat is relatively uniform ; the 
mucosa shows the greatest variations. While in most cases the epithelium 
lining the cavity is columnar, in some it is cubical. There are also found 
marked variations as to the position of the nucleus, and also as to its 
staining capacity. 
The animals fed in groups (1) and (2), on milk, and bread soaked in 
milk, approximate most nearly to the type of structure seen in the wild 
rat. The only difference is that the cells are not quite as large as in the 
wild rat (compare fig. 5 with fig. 6). In the other groups, fed on what we 
may term “ abnormal diets,” viz., rice, porridge or oats, or raw meat, there 
is found a relatively constant departure from the normal. The type of 
change is common to all abnormal diets ; its severity varies. 
The severity of the changes induced are found to be in proportion to 
the ages of the animals at the time when the abnormal diet was begun. 
The changes are most marked in the animals put on the diet at weaning, 
they are less marked the more mature the animals at the time of the 
commencement of the abnormal diet. In a fully-developed animal any 
abnormal diet may fail to materially change either the size or structure of 
the uterus. 
In regard to the development of the uterus, an abnormal diet appears 
to arrest its growth (compare figs. 1 and 2, also figs. 3 and 4). This 
arrest of development is most marked in animals fed from weaning on 
ox-flesh, but is also very well seen in animals fed on rice or on porridge 
or oats. 
In regard to structure, all the abnormal diets lead to a diminution of 
the number of the large connective tissue type of cells and a relative 
increase in the small cells. 
