The pathogenesis of secondary tumors / by Henry Wile.

  • Wile, Henry.
Date:
1882
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The pathogenesis of secondary tumors / by Henry Wile. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    close proximity with the main centre. By careful study of successive sections of the embolus the reason of this was obtained. It was seen that these centres did have a connection with the main embolus, each being connected by an isthmus. The isth- mus is irregular, curving in different direc- tions, so that in a section of the embolus this connection may not be seen, on ac- count of the curve in the isthmus not being reached by the section-knife. The centres thus appear independent. I will refer to this again in a later chapter. (See Figs. 7 and 8.) Before presenting my conclusion to this chapter I would like to enumerate the de- tails of three other experiments, two of which were performed with adult tissue other than periosteum. In experiment of thirty-six days’ dura- tion, periosteum was introduced into the anterior chamber of the eye of a dog. On making transverse section of the cornea,— i.e., section in the direction of the visual axis,—preparations were obtained which showed the cornea, a part of the iris, and the capsule of the lens intact. The space between the lens and the cornea was. seen filled by a new-formed material. In examining this latter there was seen on one side the periosteal fragment surrounded by a dense fibrous capsule, which,although show- ing increase in bulk and cellular prolifera- tion, exhibited signs of degeneration. This degeneration was indicated by the presence of the products of fatty metamorphosis, such as compound granule-cells, molecular debi'is, etc. Starting from the capsule of the periosteum was seen a new form of in- flammatory organized tissue, filling com- pletely the space of the anterior chamber. This tissue was connected by intimate union with the cornea anteriorly, and with the iris and capsule of the lens posteriorly. In fact, this intimate union suggests the idea that the new formation may have taken its origin from the surfaces of the structures mentioned. On close examina- tion it proved to be made up of a vascular areolar connective tissue, infiltrated with pigmented leucocytes. The outcome of this experiment is that, although the periosteum did not develop itself, it excited enough irritation to set up a slow chronic inflammation, which re- sulted in the formation of new tissue. In experiment of fifty-one days’ dura- tion, skin was transplanted. In all the specimens it is clearly seen that the em- bolus became encysted, and attached itself to the wall of the cyst by means of the sub- cutaneous connective tissue, while the epi- thelium of the epidermis remained free in some parts and did not connect itself in any way to the wall of the cyst. The sub- cutaneous connective tissue shows adipose tissue particularly below the roots of the hairs, looking very much like the so-called “columnae adiposse.” This is the more striking, since before inserting the embolus care was taken to remove most of the sub- cutaneous connective tissue. The wall of the cyst, which completely encapsules the embolus, is composed of connective tissue, and shows plainly that it has taken its de- velopment from the endothelium of the in- tima. The embolus having been taken from the skin of a black dog, there is to be seen some pigment in the rete mucosum. The hairs are likewise deeply pigmented. Some of the hairs seem to be slightly atrophied and disconnected from their follicles. Pig- mented cells are also seen investing the fat- vesicles. The third experiment to which I have reference is that of transplantation of smooth muscular tissue, taken from a frag- ment of cervix uteri, removed by Dr. Wil- liam Goodell, at the University Hospital clinic. (See experiment No. 37 in the table.) The muscular tissue was examined be- fore introduction, and found to consist of perfectly normal unstriated muscular tissue, and, before introduction, was well squeezed, to rid the blood-vessels of any clots of blood. As seen from the record in the table, the transplantation was a success. After the lapse of forty-two days the embolus was found of increased bulk, and did not show the slightest retrograde change. As can be distinctly seen in the specimen, the in- crease in bulk was not in this or any other case due to the presence or superaddition of the organized blood-clot alone, but to an active proliferation of the cells of the transplanted tissue itself. In the embolus under consideration, besides proliferation of the muscular cells, evident from the young cells between the muscular bundles, micrometric measurement reveals increase of the cells. To the above I may add that the em- bolus was encapsuled and united with the intima of the blood-vessel in the same