47^ Castration andThyroidectomy Basophils 



occupy a small area of cytoplasm at or near the cell membrane. In the end, 

 one or two vacuoles may be present, and the nucleus, remains of Golgi ap- 

 paratus, and mitochondria are at the periphery of the cell. The cell as a whole 

 presents true degenerative chaijges. 



When this type of vacuole formation is compared with that seen in the 

 so-called castration cell, it may be seen here also that in early stages the cyto- 

 plasm has a finely alveolar appearance. Especially is this evident in Champy- 

 fixed material. The vacuolation as it appears, however, has the form of a 

 single (or at most double or triple) vacuole which has no perceptible relation 

 to these cytoplasmic subdivisions. The vacuole appears as a small round or 

 oval area of altered cytoplasm, hyaline in nature (pi. i, fig. lo). Its colloidal 

 content stains less deeply than the surrounding cytoplasm, but is typically 

 more basophilic than the colloidal material in the thyroidectomy cell. We 

 concur in the opinion expressed by Severinghaus that vacuole formation in 

 the castration cell is preceded by liquefaction of the granular material of the 

 cytoplasm. The most outstanding characteristic of vacuole formation in the 

 castration basophil is that the precursor of the vacuole is not a subdivision 

 of the normal cytoplasm as it is in the case of the thyroidectomy basophil but 

 begins as a separate vacuole in the cytoplasm which enlarges and distorts 

 the cell. 



The gradual enlargement of the vacuole produces its effect upon the cyto- 

 plasm itself and its contents. The nucleus usually retains its shape until the 

 pressure of the vacuole forces it toward the cell membrane; it then accommo- 

 dates itself to the remaining available space. It becomes elongated in many 

 instances, and finally it may become intensely hyperchromatic and compact. 

 The Golgi apparatus also adapts itself to the free cytoplasm, which in the 

 castration cell forms a rim of varying width about the entire circumference 

 of the cell. The Golgi apparatus, just as the nucleus, becomes elongated and 

 fits itself between the vacuole and the cell membrane. It may lie close to the 

 nucleus or may be separated from it by a considerable distance. Schleidt^" had 

 a very good reason for applying the term "signet ring" to these cells. The signet 

 part of the ring consists of that portion where nucleus and Golgi apparatus 

 lie and the normal cytoplasm forms a continuous, albeit in highly distended 

 cells very thin, rim about the entire circumference of the cell (pi. i, figs, ii, 

 12, 13, and 14). 



It is true that the Golgi apparatus and nucleus, in the majority of both 

 thyroidectomy and castration basophils, come to occupy a position near the 

 cell periphery, but, as has already been demonstrated, the processes which lead 

 to this final disposition are entirely different in the two cases. It should be 

 added that clear vesicles are to be found in the hyaline vacuolar material of 

 both castration and thyroidectomy basophils. The size finally attained during 

 vacuolation in thyroidectomy cells is greater than that in the "signet ring" 

 cells of castration. 



