The Cytological Structure of the 
Hypothalamic Nuclei in Relation to 
Their Functional Connections 
Homer Date KirciIs 
Most investigations of the structure of the hypothalamus 
have been devoted to the division of this region of the brain 
stem into its various nuclei or the functional connections of these 
nuclei. In most of the early work, the :dentification of the nuclei 
was based on cell types. In the more recent studies, nuclei have 
been named on the basis of their relative isolation by fiber tracts 
or undifferentiated gray matter. Malone (1913), Greving 
(1923), and Gagel (1928) have pointed out certain relationships 
between the cytological structure of nerve cells and their parti- 
cular functions. 
In correlating structure and function of nerve cells Jacob- 
Shon (1910) pointed out that as the general body structure be- 
comes increasingly specialized in the higher members of the 
