732 



Tuberculosis 



many nuclei as there were component cells. It may be 

 that the nuclei of the giant-cells multiply by karyokinesis 

 after the protoplasmic coalescence, but only one observer, 

 Baumgarten, has found signs of this in giant-cells. 



Different writers hold varying opinions concerning the 

 formation and office of the giant cells. Thus, while I* re- 

 gard them as degenerative formations, and unimportant 





*:< 



A> ,/vV/U* 



/: a 



:im 





Fig. 244. Miliary tubercle of the testicle: a, Zone of epithelioid cells 

 and leukocytes; b, area of coagulation-necrosis; c, giant cell with its 

 processes; peripherally arranged nuclei and necrotic center; d, semi- 

 niferous tubule (Cameron, in "International Text-book of Surgery"). 



entities, there are many who believe, with Metchnikoif, 

 that they are enormous phagocytes. Hektoenf believes 

 that they are active bodies from which cells split off. 



Giant cells are not always formed in tubercles, as the 



* "International Medical Magazine," vol. i, No. 10, 1892; vol. m, 

 No. 2, 1894. 



f "Journal of Experimental Medicine," vol. in, 1898, p. 21. 



