^8o Castration andThyroidectomy Basophils 



pituitary studied about thirty-five days after castration, these cells are found 

 to be exceedingly numerous and are scattered throughout the anterior lobe. 

 They show no tendency toward grouping as after thyroidectomy. 



There are similarities between the late thyroidectomy and castration baso- 

 phils, but these similarities are superficial. In the first place, the castration 

 basophil distended by a castration vacuole never reaches the size characteristic 

 of the basophil after thyroidectomy. The other criteria which differentiate 

 the cells in these late stages are as follows: Castration basophils undergoing 

 vacuolation are always accompanied by a crop of young basophils. These 

 young basophils have been described as typical of the early castration reaction, 

 but they are always present in appreciable numbers regardless of the period 

 which may elapse after castration. Development of new basophils in such 

 numbers does not take place after thyroidectomy. In fact after a relatively long 

 postoperative period (62 days) very few young basophils are present; practically 

 all the basophils show some degree of vacuolation. After 165 days all recog- 

 nizable basophils are markedly diminished in number. The vacuolated cells 

 by this time are sometimes recognizable only as irregular masses of basophilic 

 cytoplasm and one must trace these in serial sections in order to identify the 

 remains of the nucleus. The young basophils present are negligible in number 

 and there is no evidence that the gland is making an effort to replace the 

 vacuolated basophils. This diminution in the total number of basophils is 

 therefore undoubtedly due to two factors— first, the vacuolated cells undergo 

 complete degeneration, and secondly, a new crop of the basophils does not 

 develop from the stem cell. 



Certain differences in the nuclei also serve to differentiate the basophils after 

 thyroidectomy and castration. Guyer and Claus® have made the point that 

 vacuolation of the nucleus is common in basophils after thyroidectomy, but 

 does not occur in the same cells after castration. That this cannot be con- 

 sidered an important differential point will be seen from observations on the 

 nucleus changes. In the period following thyroidectomy, from 10 to 63 days, 

 the following changes in the nucleus have been observed: Prior to the develop- 

 ment of vacuolation, the nuclei of the polyhedral darkly staining basophils 

 are often compact and polychromatic. In the initial periods of vacuole devel- 

 opment the nucleus of the enlarged thyroidectomy basophil is round, lightly 

 staining and vesicular; there is a notable scarcity of basichromatin. The size 

 of the nuclei is often greatly increased, in fact may reach twice the size of the 

 nucleus of the normal basophil. The nucleoli also are greatly enlarged, some- 

 times threefold the size of those in the normal basophil (pi. 1, fig. 2). Later 

 the nucleus shows definite evidence of degeneration and finally becomes 

 pyknotic. This process continues until the nucleus is an irregular compact 

 mass lying at or near the periphery of the cell (pi. i, fig. 6). 



Changes in the nucleus of the basophils after castration are different. Often 

 one sees elongation of the nucleus, due doubtless to the pressure exerted by 



