A monograph on diseases of the breast : their pathology and treatment, with special reference to cancer.

  • Williams, W. Roger (William Roger)
Date:
1895
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A monograph on diseases of the breast : their pathology and treatment, with special reference to cancer. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Augustus C. Long Health Sciences Library at Columbia University and Columbia University Libraries/Information Services, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the the Augustus C. Long Health Sciences Library at Columbia University and Columbia University.

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    substance containing mucin. In this the cells are sparsely em- bedded ; they may be of rounded shape, when they are generally isolated, or stellate, when they usually communicate by fine protoplasmic processes. In its grade of organisation, gela- tinous tissue occupies an intermediate position, between the embryonic parablastic formation on the one hand, and the highly developed fibrous and fatty tissues on the other. As I have previously mentioned, in the normal condition, the mammary acini and small ducts are immediately surrounded by a thin layer of this tissue. Pathological new formations thus constituted are the myxomata. They arise from the parablastic cells of the part, in just the same way as the sarcomata; from which they differ only in being a degree higher in organisation. They represent immature tissue, and are comparatively lowly organised, hence after removal they often recur locally, and occa- sionally give rise to metastases. Gelatinous tissue in neoplasms is often derived by metaplasia from fibrous and fatty tissues; under these circumstances its presence is not of such serious import. Fibrous tissue may be regarded as a further development of gelatinous tissue. In its evolution the diffluent, mucin-bearing, intercellular substance, gradually solidifies and fibrillates, and is converted into gelatine. Some histogenists describe fibrous tissue as originating without a gelatinous transformation, by the developing cells (fibroblasts) arranging themselves into compact masses and their protoplasm fibrillating. In the developmental process, the cellular elements are gradually used up, and many disappear. However, a considerable number remain embedded in the fibrillar intercellular substance. It is to abnormal pro- liferation of these cells that the fibromata owe their origin. The embryonic tissue thus formed, passes into fibrous tissue as in the normal development. Neoplasms of this nature are highly organised and of innocent nature. Strange to say, they are of very rare occurrence in the breast. Fibrous tissue readily passes by metaplasia into gelatinous, calcareous or ossiform states.