THE ANTERIOR PITUITARY AS THE ADRENAL CENTER. 215 



of the thyroid, which he associates with the respiratory func- 

 tion, and, of course, irrespective also of any connection with 

 the adrenals. 



THE ANTERIOR PITUITARY BODY AS THE ADRENAL 

 CENTER. 



Hirschfeld, 50 referring to nervous connections of the pitui- 

 tary, states that a number of anatomists classify this organ 

 among the sympathetic ganglia; then adds: "I am all the 

 more inclined to adopt the latter opinion since I have always 

 seen, in my dissections, a great number of nerve-fibers extend 

 from the superior cervical ganglia to this organ." Unfortunately, 

 no reference is made to the exact distribution of these fibers, 

 but we are fully compensated by an admirable histological study 

 of both lobes of the pituitary by H. J. Berkley, 61 in which he 

 says, referring to the anterior lobe: "Nerves, other than those 

 belonging to the sympathetic system, are not found." 



The nervous supply of the anterior pituitary lobe consists 

 of very fine fibers with numerous ramifications and branchlets, 

 and of bundles of small nerves that follow the course of the 

 arteries. From these originate single fibers which are dis- 

 tributed upon the coils of the epithelial cells, forming the 

 follicles, their ends breaking up in this location into numerous 

 terminal fibers with ball-shaped endings. The follicles re- 

 ferred to, according to G-uepin, 52 average less than 1 / 2 milli- 

 meter in diameter (300 to 600 microns). Though often termed 

 acini, i.e., glands, they are, in reality, closed cavities, alveoli, 

 or vesicles, enveloped in a rich capillary net-work supported by 

 a sparse frame-work of connective tissue. The capillaries of 

 the lobe are made up of a single endothelial coat. The alveoli 

 themselves are built of two kinds of epithelial cells, the one 

 containing a large nucleus surrounded by a relatively clear, 

 though granular, cytoplasm, the other containing a similar 

 nucleus, but buried in a coarsely granular cytoplasm. The 

 arteries reach the organ by way of the infundibulum, and are 

 distributed to the alveoli without at any time penetrating 



60 Hirschfeld: "SystSme Nerveux et Organes des Sens de 1'Homme," Paris, 

 8. 



01 H. J. Berkley: Brain, Winter, 1894. 

 B2 Guepin: Tribune Medicale, Dec. 10, 1891. 



