TUMORS. 549 



exhibited the structure of cancer, with very large polyhedral epi- 

 thelia and a comparatively scanty connective-tissue frame ; both 

 epithelia and connective tissue contained a large number of pig- 

 ment clusters. The lower portion of the tumor showed the feat- 

 ures of a pigmented myeloma, composed of large globular and 

 spindle-shaped elements. 



THE DEVELOPMENT OF COLLOID CANCER. BY H. G. BEYER, M. D.* 



Epithelial formations exhibiting a central caliber, either acinous or tubular 

 in shape, must be considered as adenomata; but such tumors, originally 

 benign, are very prone to change into cancer and thus become malignant. 

 When such a change occurs, the central caliber disappears, the connective 

 tissue becomes infiltrated with shining globular elements, and epithelia are 

 gradually developed therefrom. 



It frequently happens that the original character of a carcinoma is, by 

 secondary changes, partly or entirely lost. In fatty, waxy, or calcareous 

 degenerations, the general configuration of the texture may be preserved. 

 Other secondary changes, on the contrary, entirely destroy the original archi- 

 tecture of the tumor, leaving but few traces of its former primary character 

 behind. Colloid, adenoid, and cystic cancer may be classified with this group. 

 Colloid cancer is known to grow principally from the alimentary canal, the 

 walls of the stomach, intestine, and rectum being its most frequent localities. 

 Adenoid cancer is almost exclusively found in acinous glands, such as the 

 lachrymal and salivary glands. Cystic cancer is only an exceptional occur- 

 rence in different parts of the body, but is met with most frequently in the 

 ovaries. The specimen of this variety studied by me had formed in the liver, 

 secondarily to medullary cancer of the stomach, and was, therefore, a great 

 curiosity. 



Of the colloid variety I had the opportunity of studying two cases : one 

 from the stomach, the other from the large intestine. They are tumors of 

 moderate consistence, infiltrating to a greater or less extent the walls of 

 the stomach, respectively of the large intestine and the neighboring organs. 

 The cut surfaces are of a pale grayish-yellow color, scantily supplied with 

 blood-vessels, and upon being scraped with the knife yield a jelly-like, semi- 

 translucent juice. In slight degrees of colloid change a precise discrimination 

 between this and medullary cancer of moderate softness is not possible to 

 the naked eye, while the high degrees of colloid degeneration, which lead 

 to the formation of very soft, jelly-like, often granular, tumors resembling 

 frog's spawn and quivering under the touch, are readily recognized. 



The two cases of adenoid cancer which I have studied came from the sub- 

 maxillary gland. To the naked eye the appearances were not very character- 

 istic. Under the microscope they presented a coarse framework, composed of 

 bundles of connective tissue bounding a number of closed alveoli, and hold- 

 ing a moderate quantity of blood-vessels. The smallest of the alveoli con- 

 tained small but distinctly marked epithelia, while the larger ones held 



* Extracted from the essay, " A Contribution to the History of the Development of Col- 

 loid Cancer." By H. G. Beyer, M. D., Assistant Surgeon, U. S. N. The Medical Gazette, 

 New-York, April, 1880. 



