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Nachdruck verboten. 



The number of Islands of L\N GERHANS in the human pancreas. 



By Elbert Clark. 



(From the College of Medicine and Surgery, University of the Philippines, 



Manila, P. I.) 

 With 2 Figures. 



Introduction. 



The number of islands of Langerhans in the pancreas of the 

 guinea pig has been recently determined by Bensley. The technique 

 employed brings out the islands distinctly and in sharp contrast to 

 the other tissues of the pancreas and further enables one to count 

 within a comparatively short time {^jo to 3 hours) every island in the 

 entire pancreas of the guinea pig in the fresh condition. Such is not 

 possible by any other means at our disposal and the value of such a 

 technique in the experimental study of the pancreas is self-evident. 

 Having seen this simple method of staining differentially the islands of 

 Langerhans employed in Professor Bensley's laboratory with the 

 pancreas of the guinea pig, rabbit, cat, dog and other mammals, it 

 occurred to me that it would be desirable to extend it to man if occa- 

 sion presented itself. 



Within the past two years I have had opportunity to try it 

 out upon ten human subjects obtained shortly after death. Among 

 these ten there were seven executed prisoners, one woman dead in 

 ectopic pregnancy, one baby dead from violence, and one foetus at 

 term. The six prisoners were injected immediately after death, the 

 woman and baby within 2^/2 hours and the foetus within four hours 

 after death. 



While heretofore there has been no estimate of the total number 

 of islands of Langerhans, the amount of tissue in the human pan- 

 creas forming islands of Langerhans has been estimated by Dewitt 

 (1906), Sauerbeck (1904), Ssobolew (1904), and Heiberg (1906). 

 Dewitt finds in three apparently normal individuals the amount of 

 islet tissue occupies ^/gs, ^/^q and ^/i25 of the total volume of the organ. 

 Sauerbeck estimates that the islands of Langerhans take up less 

 than ^/looo 0^ *he volume of the human pancreas, and Ssobolew con- 



Anat. Anz. Bd. 43. Aufsätze. Q 



