1 lie <Jfnftir orif^in of Demcntia Praecox 75 



due to gonorrhoeal epididymitis or localized syphilitic inflammatory affec- 

 tion of the testes. The dense white fibrous patches microscopically exa- 

 mined exhibited tubules consisting of thickened basement membrana 

 without any Sertoli cells or spermatogenic cells of an\' kind. The atro- 

 phic process was due to obstruction of the vasa efferentia and not to a 

 regressive atrophy as in dementia praecox. Ihis moreover was shown 







« 





.m-. 



Qyyy 











•^_# 





% ' ,^^' 



fiíf. I. — Section of seminiferous tubiile stained by haematoxylin anci eosin from 

 the testicle of a case of dementia praecox of less than two years duration. The 

 large nucleated cells are spermatocytes; the smaller bodies are spermatids or 

 spermatozoa. Observe the varying size and shape, instead of being oval or of a 

 lance head form. Some are vacuolated; others, especially the smaller, are stained 

 entirely bv the acid dye instead of the basic. There does not appear to be a nor- 

 mal spermatid or spermatozoon in this section of the tubule. Magtiijication 600. 



to be the case by tlie fact that normal tubules with active spermatogene- 

 sis and Leydig cells could be found in the midst of the atrophied 

 tubules. 



Dementia praecox. — In 27 cases of dementia praecox ofwhich the tes- 

 tes were examined, either a commencing, a partial, or a complete primary 

 regressive atrophy was evident by the morphological and micro-chemical 

 changes in the spermatogenic epithelial cells and the interstitial cells with 



