CONDITION OF EPIDERMAL FIBRILS IN EPITHELIOMA. 291 
rod-shaped bodies, i.e. the chondriokonts, in properly fixed 
tissue. Material which has been fixed with the specific 
mitochondrial fixative shows chondriokonts occupying the 
identical position in which the granules occur in cells fixed 
by Altma-nn’s method, and where the mitochondrial fixative 
has not acted sufficiently, the chondriokonts can be seen 
broken up into rows of granules. Sometimes, however, both 
fixatives present the same appearance, and then it is probable 
that the chondriosome in such cells is really granular, that is, 
composed of mitochondria and not chondriokonts. 
Thus even if it should prove to be true that Altmann’s 
granules are absent, or occur in considerably diminished 
quantity in malignant cells, then it is evident that at the most 
it can apply only to the granular chondriosome, i.e. mito- 
chondria, since the rod-shaped chondriosome occurs in its 
metamorphosed form as epidermal fibrils in nearly all 
squamous epitheliomata. 
The observations about to be described throw some light 
on the origin of the well known “cell nests” occurring in 
epitheliomata, and also go to support the view of Kosenstadt 
that protoplasmic bridges between one prickle-cell and 
another do not exist. 
The material used was an epithelioma of the tongue, fixed 
immediately after removal in Flemming’s solution, modified 
according to the formula of Meves (1908, p. 832) for the 
specific staining of chondriosomes. The sections (5 fx thick) 
were stained with Heidenhain’s iron-alum haematoxylin and 
counter-stained with orange G. 
The piece of tumour was cut from the central portion of 
the growth, and tangentially to its free surface ; hence very 
few, if any, healthy epidermis cells are to be found in the 
section. Yet here and there some cells may be seen the 
nuclei of which are to all appearances quite normal, and 
which also have the epidermal fibrils presenting the same 
characters that they possess in normal and healthy epithelium, 
namely, thiu threads of an even diameter all through, running 
