78 



Frederick Mott 



approximated; the ¡nterstitial cells have now almost entirely disappeared, 

 only a few isolated polygonal eosin stained cells with normal nucleus and 

 chromatin network can be found (vide fig. 4). They do not reappear 

 till puberty. At birth and in the adolescent stage they are present in 

 large numbers; they are polygonal ¡n shape, and tend to fprm a syncitium 

 with a markedly acidophil cytoplasm in which frozen sections, stained by 

 Scharlach, shows it to contain lipoid droplets. In haematoxylin eosin 



Fig. 4. — Section of testis of child, aged 4 months. The tubules are nearly dou- 

 ble the size and approximated; here and there are small áreas tontaining a few 

 small faint pink polygonal cells, but for the most part the normal ¡nterstitial cells 

 have disappeared. The portion of the section in the centre containing the residue 

 of the interstitial cells was found after search. (Staining haematoxylin-eosin.) 



Aíagnification 430. 



sections mounted in Canadá Balsam this lipoid is dissolved out, giving 

 the cytoplasm a vacuolated appearance. There is some evidence to 

 show that these cells are continually maturating, undergoing degenera- 

 tion and regeneration by nuclear mitosis. It is probable that the lipoid 

 contained in the cells is utilized by the Sertoli nurse cells for developing 

 the tails of the spermatozoa. It is possible that the formation of the 

 lipoid by the decomposition of the acidophile cytoplasm may libérate a 

 hormone into the blood. There is generally speaking a correspondence 

 between the existence of clumps of normal eosin stained Leydig cells and 

 active spermatogenesis. In the great majority of the cases of dementia 



