Objective：To study the proliferative ability of the cuhivated rabbit corneal epithelial cells(1uring the merging of cells of the【)rimarv gPneration and thP se(．0n(t generation．M ethods：A few limbal tissues at the upper part of left eyes were removed from seven selected healthv New Zealand white I_a1)I)its by 0perations under the microscope．The tissues were cuhure(1 and generated·The ce11 cvc1e an(t apoptosis(．e11s of the samp1es were investigated by flow cytometry (FCM)during the merging of cells of the primary generation(6—8 d)and the second generation(1 0-1 2 d)．Results：The average proliferative indexes during the merging of cells of the primary generation and the second generation were 1 9．1％ and 9．8％ respectively．The proportions of apoptosis cells were 0．57％ and 0．37％ respectively．The proportion of(：ells at the proliferative stage was decreasing．while the proportion of apoptosis cells remained smal1．Conclusion：The tissue—cultivating method is suitable for the culture of rabbit limbal epithelial cells．Moreover，the cultivated rabbit corneal epithelial cells of the primary generation are more active in proliferation than the second generation．Therefore，the former is more suitable for cell transplantation．