Figure 1. Anterior view of a rabbit cornea and a diagram of the corneal epithelium and stroma. The epithelium was removed from the rabbit corneal stroma by scraping the outer surface of the cornea while the corneal endothelium and Descemet’s membrane were peeled away with fine forceps. To compare the distribution and proliferative capacity of keratocyte precursors obtained from the central and peripheral regions, stromal keratocytes were isolated from tissue specimens obtained from both the peripheral (6.0-10.0 mm in diameter) and central regions (6.0 mm in diameter) using trephines and forceps.