Structure and Carbohydrate Histochemistry of the Minor Salivary Glands of the Japanese Macaque (Macaca fuscata yakui)

Structural and carbohydrate histochemicall investigations were made of the minor salivary gands of the Japanese macaque, and the following conclusions were drawn.1. Both the minor sublingual glands and retromolar glands represent small glands having their own excretory ducts which are located in the indicated regions.2. The mucous cells in the minor sublingual glands and retromolar glands predominantly surpass the serous cells in number.3. The Japanese macaque has no anterior lingual glands.4. The glandular cells in the minor salivary glands contain no glycogen.5. The mucous cells contain neutral, weak and strong acid mucopolysaccharides, and reactions to the strong mucopolysaccharide are distinctly demonstrated.6. Some mucous glands neighboring the von Ebner's glands contain no strong acid mucopolysaccharide, and nothing else except such a kind of mucous glands was found.7. The reactions to the adove-mentioned mucosubstances in the serous cells are limited to the granules. It is presumed therefore that quantity of the same substance, especially the strong acid mucopolysaccharide in the mucous cells, is small.8. Since the so-called serous cells contain three kinds of mucopolysaccharides, they should be termed seromucous cells.9. von Ebner's glands also cotain three kinds of mucopolysaccharides. They are thus seromucous glands, but strongly surpass the common seromucous glands in the quantity of the same mucosubstances.10. The mucous components in the minor salivary glands of the Japanese macaque predominantly surpass the serous ones in quantity.