178 INTERNAL SECRETIONS 



10. The Condition of the Interstitial Cells in 

 Intoxication and Disease. 



It is known that degeneration ol the seminiferous tubules 

 can also be caused by certain poisons. The influence of chronic 

 alcoholic intoxication on the tubules, as noted by various 

 observers on alcohoHc subjects, is of great practical interest. 

 Simmonds (1898, quoted from Kostitch) showed that 60 per 

 cent, of cases of azoospermia are caused by chronic alcoholic 

 intoxication. The histological investigations of Bertholet 

 (1909, Kost.) and Weichselhaum (1910, Kost.) revealed that 

 in the testicle of alcoholic subjects spermatogenesis may 

 decrease or even disappear, whereas the interstitial cells are 

 increased in number. The same was demonstrated experi- 

 mentally on animals under conditions of chronic alcoholic 

 intoxication by Bouin and Gamier (1900, Kost.), Kyrle and 

 Schopper (1914, Kost.). Lately, Kostitch (1921), a pupil of 

 Bouin, has performed new experiments and published a detailed 

 paper on this question. Adley (19 14) has shown that similar 

 degenerative processes in the testicle can be caused by subcu- 

 taneous application of different compounds of iodine ; Hofstdttev 

 (1923) has demonstrated the same for nicotine. 



The changes which the interstitial cells undergo in different 

 diseases may also be considered as due to toxic substances. 

 As far as I know, Hansemann (1895, p. 544) was the first to 

 draw attention to this question. He found the interstitial 

 cells in a state of hypertrophy in chronic diseases, such as 

 tuberculosis of the lungs and cachexia caused by cancerjor 

 syphilis. Thaler (quoted from Kasai, 1908) records having 

 observed in many cases of acute diseases that the interstitial 

 cells were rather numerous, whereas in some cases the inter- 

 stitial tissue was not well developed. The increase of the 

 interstitial cells in cachectic diseases, according to Thaler, is 

 not a constant one. A marked increase of the interstitial cells 

 was observed by Cordes (quoted from Kasai, 1908) in seven 

 out of twelve cases of tuberculosis. The question was studied 

 also by Bouin and Ancel (1905 a). They record an hypertrophy 

 of the interstitial tissue in acute diseases such as pneumonia 

 and tuberculosis, which progress rapidly. But this hyper- 

 trophy is not always of the same degree, neither does it always 

 take place. They observed also the hypertrophy of the 



