2 THE PINEAL ORGAN 



skulls, and there can be no doubt that with improved technique and 

 better X-ray apparatus the percentage of calcified pineals which are 

 visible and are recorded will gradually rise. 



The pineal organ is thus of considerable importance in general 

 medicine, and as the years go by and pineal lesions are more frequently 

 recognized, this importance will become more marked. 



As one branch of medicine advances it becomes repeatedly necessary 

 to fall back on the fundamental sciences for help and guidance, and 



Fig. i. — Calcification of Pineal Organ. 



realizing that the investigation of these pineal tumours proved rather 

 barren some years ago, the authors determined to investigate the whole 

 question of the nature of the pineal organ from the lowest to the highest 

 forms in the animal kingdom and see if this would shed any light on these 

 interesting and little-known tumours of the pineal which so often are not 

 diagnosed in the early stages when complete removal would be much 

 easier than if left to grow large and involve neighbouring structures. 



