Drawing of a section of pituitary from an acromegalic woman

Drawing of a sagittal cross-section through the center of the enlarged pituitary of a female acromegalic patient. "The adenomatous character of the tumor is apparent, even with the low magnification represented in the sketch (which was drawn with the aid of a camera lucida). ... [T]he anterior lobe contains much more connective-tissue stroma than the tumor, [but otherwise at this magnification] their structure appears quite similar. A large number of blood vessels can be seen in every part of the section." The specimen was hardened in formalin, embedded in celloidin (a nitrocellulose compound derived from pyroxylin, used in a solution of alcohol and ether for embedding specimens before cutting sections for microscopy), and stained with Van Giesen's picric acid fuchsin. (A) Posterior lobe; (B) anterior lobe; (C) adenoma; (D) acini containing colloid substance; (E) connective tissue capsule; (F) infundibulum. (Source:Brooks H. Acromegalia. Arch Neurol Psychopathol 1898;1[3]:485-678. Plate V, figure 2.)