Some scanning electron microscopic studies of the surface of coronal sections cut from the rat brain

The cut surfaces of coronal sections of the rat cerebral hemispheres have been examined with the scanning electron microscope. Under low magnification the structures of the brain are easily identified. Using the focusing power of the microscope and the ability to tilt the specimen in its column, under higher magnification the neurones, glial cells, cell processes, bundles of myelinated axons and the cerebral blood vessels can be examined in great detail. This method of study should prove of value in the future for the investigation of brains which have been subjected to experimental procedures and those affected by disease.