ANATOMY OF THE PITUITARY BODY 



of reserve cells at the expense of the oxyphils. He found that 

 the increase in the weight of the pituitary of pregnant women, 

 in comparison with that of non-pregnant women, averaged 



113 mg. or 18.3 per cent; this difference was entirely due to 

 the hypertrophy of the pars glandularis, which was increased 

 in weight both relatively (pregnant, 84.1 per cent; non-preg- 

 nant, 81.4 per cent) and absolutely (increase in pregnancy, 



1 14 mg. or 22.7 per cent). The results were obtained by 

 weighing outlines, traced on paper, of serial sections of the 

 pituitary of twenty-four pregnant women and sixty non- 

 pregnant women. 



The anatomy of the pituitary of pregnant animals was in- 

 vestigated as early as 1905 by Guerrini, and Morandi, who 

 obtained results as difficult to interpret as those reported 

 later. The more recent detailed studies of the histology and 

 cytology of the pars glandularis, particularly of pregnant 

 rats, and also of pregnant mice, guinea pigs, rabbits, sheep, 

 and cows, have led to conclusions which are especially con- 

 tradictory in respect to the origin of the pregnancy-cell. The 

 characteristic cell of the pars glandularis of pregnancy is de- 

 scribed as a non-granular oxyphil, more or less resembling 

 the human pregnancy-cell of Erdheim and Stumme, in the 

 mouse (Urasov, 1927; Haterius and Charipper, 1931), guinea 

 pig (Kolde, 1912; Brouha and Desclin, 1931; Desclin, 1932), 

 rabbit (Kolde, 1912; Berblinger, 1914), and cow (Gentilli, 

 1920; Beato, 1935; and others). Other changes, particularly 

 in the basophils, are reported by Watrin (1922) in the sheep 

 and by Urasov in the mouse. According to Majima (1926), 

 who studied the pituitary of the pregnant rabbit, a marked 

 increase in the number of mitoses could be observed in the 

 chromophil cells — particularly in the oxyphils (pregnancy- 

 cells?). 



Atwell (1930) found that the enlargement of the cat's pitui- 

 tary, occurring in pregnancy, depended upon hypertrophy of 

 all the lobes, the relative sizes of which were unaltered. 



[21] 



