Acromegaly / by Maximilian Sternberg ; translated by F.R.B. Atkinson.

  • Sternberg, Maximilian, 1863-
Date:
[1899]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Acromegaly / by Maximilian Sternberg ; translated by F.R.B. Atkinson. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    51/186 (page 47)
    buhtni. Oiih’ in the posterior part are remnants of the original hypopliTseal cavity preserved, generally t'vo pairs of larger and some smaller hollow spaces, lying on either side of the median line. A longitudinal incision of the hypophysis shows, therefore, at this time three divisions: the so-called anterior ” (under) glandular part, the “ middle ” part with large cavities, and the “ posterior ’’ infundibular part. The infundibulum, as mentioned above, is originally a small tip of the thalamencephalon, Avhich is inserted between the diverticulum of the hypophysis and the middle trabe- culte cranii. It remains for some time a small conical process under the blind extremity of Rathke's diverticulum, and separated from it by scanty fibrous tissue supporting vessels. It is composed of round nucleated cells, like the embryonal nervous system generally. Later on the process lengthens, presses down against the posterior wall of the hypophyseal cavitj' and invaginates it for a certain distance. It retains its central narrow duct, Avhich is lined by radially arranged cylindrical cells. Round about lie the embryonal nerve cells. As the process becomes lengthened a finely granulated mass forms on these layers into which vessels from the suiToundino; ])ia mater grow. Simultaneously the process becomes thickened into a club-shape, its central duct obliterated. ()nly underneath remnants of the infundibular cavity survive in the form of some little hollow spaces. The original cells of the central nervous system vanish from the infundibular process until only a few clusters remain. Thus the infundibulum in mammals is a species of anterior filum terminale (Burdach), whilst in fishes it remains a true part of the brain. In these latter, behind the infundibular process, there still exists a pouch of the thalamencephalon, the “ saccus vasculosus ” (Grottsche), remnants of which Retzius sees in man in the tuber cinereum. Comijorative anatomy and j>lxylocjeny.—The hypophysis in different animals cannot be compared without some explanation. The hypophysis consists originally of three parts: the epiblastic part, which is a remainder of the oral diverticulum of an old opening situated at the