Drawing of a section of the hypertrophied anterior pituitary from a male acromegalic patient

The specimen was hardened in Lang's solution and embedded in paraffin. The section was stained with hematoxylin and eosin. "The section shows the glandular structure of the normal [pituitary] and consequently the hyperplastic nature of the enlargement[;] indeed, the section could not be differentiated from one of a normal [pituitary] were it not that there is a somewhat smaller amount of stroma present. The difference in shape and size between the chief [chromophobic] and chromophilic [acidophils and basophils] cells is quite evident, and the variation in the staining reaction is indicated by the darker shading of the chromophilic cells." (A) Chief cells [chromophobic], the protoplasm of which has reacted to the stain in only a slight degree; (B) chromophilic cells. (Source: Brooks H. Acromegalia. Arch Neurol Psychopathol 1898;1[3]:485-678. Plate VI, figure 1.)