PATHOLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS OF THE PINEAL 41 



The upper lip was hairy, also the pubis. The upper extremities were dispro- 

 portionately large as compared to the lowe.r. Abundant panniculus of chest and 

 abdomen was present. There was no cranial nerve alteration. The erections 

 were marked; the semen contained spermatozoa. The boy was good tempered and 

 docile, affectionate to those who fed him. He spoke in monosyllables but was not 

 capable of the simplest reasoning. He died from gastroenteritis in 1902, having 

 been taken home in order to avoid an autopsy. 



As may be seen, the belief that this patient had pineal disorder is 

 also founded solely upon the precocious genital development. Pellizzi then 

 develops his thesis, using the cases of Hudo- 

 vernig and Popovits, Ogle, Oestrich and 

 Slawzk, v. Frankl-Hochwart, Gutzeit, Par- 

 hon and Zalplachta, and only really raises 

 the question of a possible reciprocal rela- 

 tion between hypopineal and hypergonadal 

 function. 



Important contradictory facts are known 

 in which early destruction of pineal sub- 

 stance has not produced the gonadal altera- 

 tions, and second, sexual precocity of 

 marked character has been observed without 

 any known involvement of the pineal. This 

 latter statement must be qualified by saying 

 that the pineal has been found intact accord- 

 ing to present day conceptions of intactness. 

 When it is emphasized that no studies of the 

 nerve mechanisms have been pursued in 

 these studies, and furthermore when it must 

 be confessed that the receptor and effector 

 mechanisms in the pineal still remain un- 

 studied, it is perhaps premature to say that 

 the pineal is uninvolved. Pineal tumor 

 cases without pubertas praecox are seen in 

 the cases of Askanazy, Gauderer, Hart, 

 Huter, Konig, Neumann, Pappenheimer, 

 Fukuo and Schminck. All of the teratomata 

 cases were in males varying from 4-27 years 

 in age. There are at least 7 cases reported 



in adults and in at least two cases of teratoma (Huter and Pappenheimer) 

 there was no sexual precocity observed. 



It is a striking fact that all of the pineal teratomata which have been 

 reported have occurred in males. In some of these teratomata of the 

 pineal body there have been no signs of sexual precocity. 



Zandrens (1920) has reported an extremely interesting case of 

 apinealism. This was in a boy of 16% years who was infantile. He had 



Fig. 3. Illustration of Pel- 

 lizzi's case of Macrogenitosomia 

 precoce from supposed pineal 

 involvement. 



