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

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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.)