91 



area in which, within the field of the microscope (Zeiss 4, ocular 4, 

 objective A), '24 islands were observed, Avhile in a like area in a neigh- 

 boring part islands were entirely absent. 



The Pancreas of the Infant, 



While it is the province of this note to deal with the number 

 of islands in the human pancreas, yet a few remarks concerning 

 some histologic findings in the pancreas of the child and that 

 of one foetus may be of interest. Subject No. 5, a Chinese babj- of 

 six months, shows the highest average number of islands per milli- 

 gram of pancreas, although only slightl}' higher than No. 4 (being 

 21.55 and 20.23 respectively). An examination with the high power, 

 however, showed that the islands included in this count by no means 

 represented the total amount of island tissue in the pancreas. The 

 whole pancreas was studded with little red-stained cells and groups 

 of 1 to 10 cells. These were everywhere to be found. These cells 

 stained very faintly in the area occupied by the nucleus and thus 

 appeared vesicular under a dry lens of moderately high magnification 

 (ex. Leitz 2, oc. obj. 6). This is the typical appearance of the cells 

 of the islands under similar condition, and an examination of the 

 isolated red staining cells with the oil immersion showed their exact 

 similarity with the island cells. 



Several smaller ductules were observed in this pancreas which 

 took on a faint neutral red stain and many of these stray island 

 cells seemed to be associated with these ductules. By far the greater 

 number of the single island cells, however, were associated with the 

 acini or enclosed within them. Acini were observed containing from 

 one to several islet cells, the latter even sometimes predominating. 

 In another subject (a human foetus at term) in which the staining 

 did not permit of an islet count, similar appearances were noted in 

 regard to the stray islet cells. Thus, in the very young human sub- 

 ject, these observations seem to be in accord with Bensley's findings 

 in the new born guinea pig, which has been more thoroughly investi- 

 gated, and in which "there are myriads of single islet cells located in 

 the acini and forming a part of the regular row of epithelium in these 

 acini, which do not enter into the counts because wdth the low powers 

 of the microscope necessary for counting they cannot be distinguished 

 from connective tissue cells which contain large irregular granules 

 stained with neutral red." 



