The effect of adriamycin on rat incisor was investigated 1 day after administration. Rats were injected intravenously with adriamycin at a dose of 5 mg/kg body weight and sacrificed by perfusion with a 2.5% phosphate buffered glutaraldehyde solution. The principal effect of the drug on the incisor was the production of cell degeneration. This was extensive in the apical region, being present along the entire periphery of the dental papilla. In sections examined more incisally, cell degeneration gradually disappeared from the labial portion of the incisor but was present in the lingual portion. This degeneration of cells was not present at the site where mature odontoblasts had differentiated on the lingual surface of the pulp chamber. It appears that the affected cells were early preodontoblasts and the precursors of preodontoblasts. However, as these cells became more differentiated they apparently became more resistant to the drug's effect.