684 
MR. J. N. LAXGLEY OX THE HISTOLOGY AXD 
vary not inconsiderably in size; but apart from this there is a considerable diminution 
in the size of tlie granules in passing from the beginning to the end of the oxyntic 
gland region. The latter portion of the oesophagus contains the majority of the glands 
with large granules. The difference in the size of the granules in the anterior and 
posterior pepsin-forming regions is much less in some Toads than in others; there is 
also some variation in the extent to which the glands with granular cells stretch into 
the oesophagus. The cell-substance of the glands in the resting state stains very 
slightly with osmic acid. The pyloric glands resemble the pyloric glands of the Frog ; 
the fully-formed mucous cells are, however, usually more numerous. 
It is not so easy in the Toad as it is in the Frog to observe the glands in the 
pinned-out mucous membrane owing to the greater amount of sub-mucous tissue. In 
a small Toad, however, it can be seen that the latter oesophageal and anterior oxyntic 
glands contain in the fresh state obvious granules; they are less conspicuous than the 
r granules in the oesophageal glands of the Frog, but much more conspicuous than those 
in the oxyntic glands of the Frog. Towards the pyloric region the glands become 
less granular and more transparent, and resemble fairly closely the Frog’s oxyntic 
glands; the lumen, however, is frequently distinct. The pyloric glands need no 
special notice. 
Changes which occur in the (Esophageal and Gastric Glands. 
During digestion the changes which are common to the oesophageal and oxyntic 
glands of the Frog occur also in all the granular pepsin-forming glands of the Toad; 
the granules become smaller and diminish in number and size, the cells become smaller, 
and the cell-substance stains more deeply with osmic acid. Apart from this, there is 
in the Toad a slight gradual alteration in the character of the changes in passing from 
one end of the pepsin-forming region to the other. 
In the pepsin-forming oesophageal glands we find a very feeble picture of what 
happens in the oesophageal glands of the Frog. During activity the outer portions of 
the cells become more sparsely granular, though very seldom showing an outer clear 
zone. 
In the anterior oxyntic glands of the stomach the gland-cells are as a rule equally 
affected throughout; there is no alteration in the relative distribution of the granules. 
In the posterior oxyntic glands the granules disappear rather more from the inner 
than from the outer part of the cells. An inner non-granular border is however 
seldom so distinctly seen as it is in the corresponding glands of the Frog. 
In the Toad then the changes which the cells of the different parts of the pepsin¬ 
forming region undergo in digestion are much less divergent than they are in the 
Frog; moreover, in the Toad there is a gradual alteration in the character of the 
changes from the beginning to the end of the pepsin-forming region, whilst in the 
Frog the intermediate forms are largely confined to the junction of the oesophagus and 
stomach. 
