SCANNING ELECTRON-MICROSCOPY STUDY OF CELL DIMENSIONS OF RABBIT CORNEAL EPITHELIUM SURFACE

Scanning electron microscopy was used in a morphometric analysis of the surface cells of the young (1.9-2.4 kg) female albino rabbit. A complete survey of the corneal surface was made (115 micrographs at x 500), and cell area, and longest and shortest dimensions were measured. The cell population, on the basis of electron reflex (light, medium, and dark), was resolved into three overlapping populations of cells. The light cells tended to show the smallest area and the smallest dimensions, whereas the opposite was found for dark reflex cells: Medium reflex cells had intermediate areas and cell dimensions. However, no clear-cut resolution simply by size (small, medium, large) was observed.