The effects of vitamin deficient diets on rats, with special reference to the motor functions of the intestinal tract in vivo and in vitro

IN 1914 Keith (l) described the macroscopic and microscopic lesions which he found in a number of large intestines removed at operation for conditions of advanced colonic stasis. In 1921 I had the privilege of examining this material and undertook the experimental study which arose out of the anatomical findings. The salient features of these lesions were :(a ) Accumulation of large cells with indistinct nuclei and numerous brown granules in their cytoplasm in the stroma under the epithelium and above the muscularis mucosa. They are sharply localised to that area, often bathed in lakes of lymph and strictly limited to the colon. ( b ) Distinct pathological lesions often found in Anerbach's plexus, ranging from inflammatory cell infiltration and necrosis to extreme fibrosis. ( c ) The epithelium is often flattened toward the lumen and sometimes so laden with brown pigment that the nucleus is seen with difficulty. The latter is often vesicular and appears unstained. Here and there the goblet cells are seen to form bladders and occasionally appear to burst into the reticularis evidently because a tough film which covers their surface prevents their proper discharge into the lumen. (d) Occasional fibrosis of the muscular coats and thickening of the submucous connective tissue.