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The morphological observations described in this report are part of a biochemical study of progesterone intermediates using sow ovary. This tissue is extensively involved in the production of some steroid hormones. Because the lutein cells are thought to be involved in the synthesis of progesterone and its intermediates and because these cells constitute by size and number the greatest portion of the mass of sow ovary, we confined the morphological investigation to these cells. Sow corpora lutea, fixed with glutaraldehyde and osmium tetroxide were examined by light and electron microscopy. The lutein cells of the sow are large epithelioid cells with oval nuclei and extensive amounts of cytoplasm. Large masses of highly organized smooth endoplasmic reticulum, many oval mitochondria with tubular cristae, and many lipid droplets are present. Only a few profiles of rough endoplasmic reticulum are seen in any one section, and Golgi membranes cannot by distinguished from other smooth membranes. The smooth endoplasmic reticulum is the major membranous organelle in these luteal cells. Microsomal preparations from luteal cells must be very rich in fragments of these smooth membranes. The demonstration of many steroidogenic enzyme systems in microsomal preparations lends strong support to the supposition that these enzyme systems reside in the smooth endoplasmic reticulum.

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As part of studies on Ehrlich's ascites tumor cells transplanted into Swiss mice some unique myeloid figures, were found with electron microscopy in parathyroid cells, consisting of electron dense rings partially or completely encircling the nuclei of many cells in 7 of the 30 treated animals examined. These dense rings were seen to be made up of tightly matted bands, which at free ends, spread out to become continuous with agranular endoplasmic reticulum. The nuclei of these altered cells were quite pleomorphic and were closer together than in normal tissue, indicating decreased cell volume. Rough endoplasmic reticulum was scarce, mitochondria were long and slender and free ribosomes were widely scattered in the cytoplasm. A possible explanation for the development of these focal areas of degeneration is given.

Electron microscopic studies reveal that the red pulp of the rabbit spleen is composed of reticular cells, reticulum and elements of the blood circulating through it. The three types of reticular cells described follow no definite pattern as to types of spaces they line and are not always adjacent to a basement membrane. Similar or dissimilar cells may line a basement membrane on the same or opposing sides. The entire red pulp area is intercommunicating through pores and junctions of the several spaces and in that area in which no basement membrane exists, the cytoplasmic projections of the reticular cells form a meshwork of spaces. Terminal arterioles are seen to end in collapsed type channels with a change from endothelium to Type I reticular cells. These rapidly join dilated areas. The reticular network of the spleen appears as four types: homogeneous, fibrillar, a combination of these, and reticular cells only. Isolated cilia are found in the reticular cell cytoplasm and are shown to be associated with a basal body and a centriole. The investigation supported the hypothesis that the red pulp of the spleen in the adult rabbit is a functionally dynamic area constantly changing its histological structure, both regarding cells and state of the vascular channels.