278 ' KIYOYASU MAEUI 



sometimes so inconstant that one should be verj^ careful to attrib- 

 ute any pathological significance to any slight histological mani- 

 festation in those structures. The appearance of the amoeboid 

 glia cells may indicate, however, that some catabolism process 

 takes place in and about the Mauthner cell. Alzheuner (1), 

 who investigated thoroughly the amoeboid glia cells and the 

 catabolism processes in the nerve tissue, said about the cases in 

 which a number of amoeboid glia cells were found without any 

 finding on the side of nervous structure, that some catabolism 

 products which escape the microscopical demonstration at the 

 present time would be produced on account of the disturbance 

 of the nutrition of the nerve tissue. The finding of the amoeboid 

 glia cells in the synapse might show that in over-activity some 

 catabolism products are produced as the effect of pathological 

 nutrition condition or owing to dilapidation of the nervous 

 structure, not demonstrable at the present time. These would 

 stimulate the formation of the amoeboid glia cells to serve as 

 scavengers. That postmortem production of the amoeboid glia 

 cells cannot come under consideration, I already remarked. 

 Rosenthal (31), who wanted^ to interpret the appearance of 

 amoeboid glia cells with methyl-blue granules as a sign of necro- 

 biosis of neuroglia tissue, regarded the formation of the amoeboid 

 glia cells with fuchsinophile granules as that of increased scav- 

 enging activity; the amoeboid cells with these granules were also 

 found in fatigue, as remarked. According to Wohlwill (34), 

 different kinds of diseases which show the amoeboid glia cells have 

 edema as their common cause. The question whether over-activ- 

 ity causes edema in the region of the synapse and a swelling 

 process of the glia cells can come under consideration or not, 

 must be left undecided here. So far I may assume that in over- 

 activity a catabolism process in a wide sense takes place in the 

 synapse, which comes under the fourth category of catabolism 

 processes of Alzheimer (2) . But I cannot state definitely whether 

 the catabolism products come only from the synapse or from 

 both the synapse and the cell; the latter appears to me more 

 probable. 



