Estimation of the volumes of multinucleate giant cells

An estimation of the volumes of three multinucleate giant cells has been attempted by measurements of the areas of enlarged tracings of serial paraffin sections which was estimated at approximately 5 mum in scanning electron-micrographs. In addition, three-dimensional models of these tracings constructed in wax were used to estimate the volumes of the same cells by means of Archimedes' Principle. The results indicate a close correlation between the estimates derived from the two procedures and suggest that the three cells measured have a volume of the order of magnitude of 50,000 to 100,000 mum(3).