28 BIOLOGY OF DEATH 



TABLE 3 



Showing the Principal Differences Observed on Comparing the Spinal Ganglion 

 Cells (First Cervical Ganglion} from a Child at Birth With Those 

 from a Man Dying of Old Age at Ninety-two Years. 

 (From Hodge's data) 



Hodge found still more marked changes in the anten- 

 nary lobe of the nervous system of the honey bee. The 

 nature of the changes is shown in Figure 2. 



In the ganglion cells of both man and the honey bee, 

 the volume of the nucleus in proportion to that of the 

 rest of the cell body becomes reduced with advancing age. 

 Minot showed that this was a very general phenomenon 

 in senescence, and was a continuous process from birth to 

 death. He gave to it and related and associated cellular 

 changes the name ' ' cy tomorphosis, ' ' and attributed to it 

 the greatest significance in bringing about senescence and 

 death. As we shall presently see, cytomorphosis may 

 perhaps more justly be regarded as one of the morpho- 

 logical results of senescence rather than its cause. 



Eecently Mrs. Pixell-Goodrich, an English worker, has 

 re-studied the senescent changes in the cells of the honey 

 bee. Her work shows in a striking way the loss of proto- 

 plasm in the aged cell. In the young bee immediately 

 after hatching, the cells are large and plump, only separ- 

 ated from each other by narrow strands of connective 

 tissue. In the same region of the same ganglion in an old 

 bee which came from a hive on a fine day in March, but 

 was too weak to effect a cleansing flight and soon became 

 moribund, the nerve cells were quite worn out. There 



