Lymphomyeloid organs of amphibia. IV. Normal histology in larval and adult Rana catesbeiana

Abstract

AbstractThis report presents light microscopic descriptions of normal histology, including innervation, of the lymph glands and jugular bodies, of larval and adult Rana catesbeiana. A brief description of two other adult organs, the propericardial and procoracoid bodies, is also included. The parenchyma was studied by employing the May‐Grunwald‐Giemsa staining technique for better cytoplasmic differentiation; the Periodic Acid‐Schiff technique and hematoxylin and eosin yielded clearer nuclear and cytoplasmic delineations. The intercellular portion of the stroma was studied from sections stained with Masson's trichrome, Weigert's elastic stain, Periodic Acid‐Schiff and Wilder's reticulum stain. Demonstration of phagocytes was facilitated by intraperitoneal India ink injections followed by the above staining procedures. Innerrvation was observed in serial sections of silver impregnated whole organs as well as in the other serial sections. These organs are lymphocytopoietic and to a certain extent granulopoietic; they also serve, like the spleen, as graveyards for dead cells and most probably play a role in immunity especially in the synthesis of antibodies as indicated by the presence of plasma cells, macrophages and lymphocytes.