The morphology and evolutional significance of the pineal body : being part I of a contribution to the study of the epiphysis cerebri with an interpretation of the morphological, physiological and clinical evidence / [by] Frederick Tilney and Luther F. Warren.

Abstract

The increase of the epiphysorcrebral index during life in man.. 213 /. The resistance to the enrronrhment of the corpus callosum in inaimnuls 21<> 3. Evidence based on the histology of tincpiphyseal complex 217 4. The relation of 1 he pariet al eye to t lie pineal body-1 ' 1 5. The phylogenetic significance of the parietal eye \\ith reference to vertebrate and invertehrate 8. Summary and conclusions i". s 9. Bibliography Part II. The physiology and pathology of the pineal body. Part III. The clinical aspects of the pineal body. 157 referring to this cavity, described it as the ventricle of the pineal gland. Majendie, (1795) 257 commenting at considerable length upon the hypothesis of Descartes concerning the seat of the soul, ingenuously remarks that he himself has a better conception of the nature and function of the pineal body which he desires to substitute for the theory of Descartes. His own suggestion, says Majendie, is not only very simple, but actual and true, for it must be obvious from the situation as well as from the structure and form of the pineal body that it serves as a tampon designed to expand and in this way to close off the aqueduct of Sylvius or, at other times, shrinking, to permit this aqueduct to open again so that the fluid in the ventricles may have free access from the third chamber to the fourth. Majendie, however, does not state upon what grounds the internal structure of the pineal body justifies such a belief, but he is none the less emphatic in calling attention to the valve-like nature of the conarium with reference to the cerebrospinal fluid. Gunz (1753) m attributed dementia to impeding of the flow of spirits caused by the pineal body. Burdach ('19-'26) 48 considered the pineal body as supplementary to both the cerebellum and cerebral hemispheres. Tiedemann ('23) 395 found the epiphysis in reptiles, birds, and mammals. Serres ('24-'28) 353 and Willis 429 both make the statement that the epiphysis occurs in fish, birds, and reptiles in fact, in all classes of vertebrates. Andral ('29) 4 also described the organ as occurring in all the classes of vertebrates. Brandt ('29) 40 recognized a glandular structure under a small scale in the head of Lacerta agilis which corresponded to a circular depression in the parietal region of the skull. This he regarded as a special gland. Milne-Edwards ('29), 107 in his researches on lizards, figures but does not describe certain plaques in the head of these animals. He indicates these as the occipital plaque, the parietal plaque, and the interparietal 12 FREDERICK TILNKY AM) LUTHER F. WARREN plaque. The latter is a black spot correspond in g exactly to the position of the pineal gland. Duges ('29) 97 also figures the >ame appearance in certain lizards. As early as 1835 Hollard 188 had made the observation that the epiphysis was entirely nervous in structure. He is also authority for the statement that this body does not occur in fish. Gottsche ('35), I54 however, stales that the pineal body does exist in all fish. Valentin ('43) 403 concurred in ...