Histoloo-ical Appearances of the Mainuuilian Pituitary Body 13.S 



kind of cell is small, contains a large nucleus and little protoplasm, which 

 is decolourised by the same method of procedure. This variety is the 

 " chromophobe " cell. The two kinds of cells occur together in strings or 

 clumps, sometimes the one preponderating, sometimes the other. The 

 clumps are surrounded by a basement membrane, and vary in size according 

 to the number and character of the enclosed cells. The distribution of the 

 two kinds varies in different animals. Dostoiewskj^ says that in man and 

 the ox the clear cells are chiefly grouped together in the central part of 

 the gland, while in small animals, rat, cat, and rabbit, they are more 

 scattered throughout the lobe. The gland is extremely vascular, and the 

 blood-vessels are of the nature of wide channels. Rogowitsch (34) calls 

 the "chromophobe" cell of Flesch the " Hauptzelle," recognises the 

 " chromophil " as a distinct cell, and states that a third variety exists in 

 the form of nucleated masses of embryonic tissue. H. S tie da (43) comes 

 to a similar conclusion and describes as "Kernhaufen" masses of em- 

 bryonic tissue full of closely packed nuclei, having little protoplasm which 

 behaves like that of the " Hauptzellen " to stains, and no cell borders. 

 Schonemann (39) goes still further, and believes that most of the so- 

 called " Hauptzellen " have no real borders, and that they are to be 

 regarded as " kernreiches Protoplasma." According to Rogowitsch, 

 Stieda, and Schonemann, the changes in the pituitary which follow 

 removal of the thyroids are confined to the cells of the anterior lobe. 

 Their results have a certain general agreement, but difler considerably in 

 detail. Rogowitsch tinds colloid in the "chromophil" cells, and states 

 that it passes directly from them into the blood-vessels, both of wliich 

 observations are strongly combated by Stieda. The latter believes that 

 thyroidectomy is followed by increase in size of the " Hauptzellen," and 

 that no formation of colloid takes place. Rogowitsch describes In-per- 

 trophy of the " Kernhaufen " with vacuolisation and colloid formation. 

 Schonemann is of the opinion that "chromophil" cells are not a 

 prominent feature of the healthy pituitary, that their development after 

 thyroidectomy is a degenerative process, and, further, that they undero-o 

 colloid change, accompanied by proliferation of connective tissue and 

 blood-vessels. 



Saint-Remy (3.5) in 1892, after careful examination of the pituitarv 

 bodies of many vertebrates, came to the conclusion that there is only one 

 kind of cell in the anterior lobe, and that the varieties previousl}^ described 

 are merely the expressions of different functional stages of the same cell. 

 The " chromophil " cell is really a " Hauptzelle," or principal cell, in the 

 protoplasm of which deeply staining granules have accunnilated. The 

 granules are probably transformed into some product of secretion and 

 eliminated from the cell, which then becomes a smaller body recognisable 

 as a principal cell. All stages between these extreme forms may be 

 recognised in the normal gland. 



Claus and Van der Stricht (5) came to similar conclusions. Benda (1) 



