492 Dr Duckworth , Report on the brain of a 
These droplets are conspicuous in the great majority of the 
sections to be described (cf. list of specimens 1 — 13) and are 
evidently widely distributed throughout the cerebral tissues. In 
the mid -brain and bulb they are less plentiful, but they are seen 
in the cerebellum (cf. infra). In sections stained with methyl violet 
the droplets assume a slightly pink coloration and hereby their 
“ amyloid ” nature is held to be indicated. The characteristic 
iodine reaction could not be obtained however. In sections 
stained with thionin, the droplets are stained blue : among them 
are seen some much smaller masses, stained distinctly pink : the 
latter (smaller) masses are therefore judged to be mucoid, the 
larger more conspicuous droplets failing to give the characteristic 
pink mucin indication with thionin. In sections stained with 
Grubler’s haemalum and acid fuchsin after van Gieson’s method, 
very striking results follow. Near the surface of the cortex are 
many violet-stained, and therefore “amyloid” globules: but 
deeper down, and near the ventricular aspect (of the attenuated 
hemisphere-wall) brilliant red masses are found : they are less 
abundant than the violet-stained globules. These histological 
results indicate that both amyloid and colloid substances are 
present in the cortex of this region : while the thionin test 
reveals the presence of mucin or some closely-allied body : all 
these substances are independent of nerve-cells and cortical 
vessels, so far as can be observed. As the droplets which give 
the reactions of amyloid tissue are by far the most plentiful, the 
globules or droplets will be described as amyloid in the following 
paragraphs : but this does not exclude the presence of colloid 
substance and free mucin in the sections. 
Such droplets are present in abundance in many types of 
degenerate nerve-tissue. Their mode of origin seems to be still 
obscure. They are not, however, absolutely diagnostic of a 
diseased condition of the nerve-tissue, for I found a certain 
number in sections of a normal human brain which I employed 
as a “ control ” in connexion with the present case. In spite 
of this, their abundance at any rate can be claimed as indicative 
of some pathological condition. (It remains to add that the 
“ control ” brain just mentioned had been preserved in alcohol 
for a number of years. It seems not improbable, moreover, that 
these drops are precipitated by the fixing or preservative reagent, 
in a fluid which during life percolated the more solid constituents 
of the cerebral substance.) The appearances presented by the 
sections of Block 12 (the bulb) point almost conclusively to the 
derivation of these globules from the substance of nerve-cells. 
(b) The distinction between grey matter and white matter 
can be still recognised. The white matter is especially attenuated. 
In sections stained by Weigert’s method, three chief zones can 
