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It appears that there is validity in categorizing gastric carcinoma into two histologic types, intestinal and diffuse. The local host tissue response in 92.5% of cases of the intestinal type of gastric carcinoma was of an exudative nature. Diffuse gastric carcinoma in 70% of cases incited a dense productive fibrosis. Pools of mucin and large number of 'signet-ring' cells were mostly encountered in the intestinal type of carcinoma. Applying Dukes' parameters the tumour was found to be more than three times more invasive in cases of diffuse carcinoma. The prognostic bearing of the two histologic types, different host tissue response, behaviour of the tumour in terms of mucous production and local extension are discussed and it is suggested that diffuse gastric carcinoma carries a worse prognosis than the intestinal type. Study of a larger series of cases and longer follow-up with controlled treatment is essential to confirm this assessment.

A clinico-pathological study of six cases of vascular hamartoma (hœmangioma) of skeletal muscles is presented. The literature on the subject is reviewed, and the importance of the clinical differentiation of these lesions from malignant soft-tissue neoplasms is stressed.

The pathogenicity of 2 strains of Candida viswanathii has been tested in laboratory animals. One strain of the fungus, isolated from cerebrospinal fluid, caused lesions in the lungs of a rabbit and in the kidney of a mouse when inoculated intravenously and appears to be pathogenic. In the case of the second strain the limited evidence available suggests that it is non-pathogenic.

Two cases of carcinoma and renal tuberculosis occurring in the same kidney, a rare association, are reported. The tuberculous process was apparently overshadowed by the more obvious coexistent tumour, and detected as an incidental finding. A possible explanation for the extremely rare association of carcinoma and renal tuberculosis is discussed.

Oesophageal carcinoma constituted 2.39% of all malignancies, and 17.11% of gastrointestinal tract malignancies, over a period of 12 years, in Sir Sunder Lal Hospital population in Varanasi. The highest frequency occurred in the sixth decade. The male:female ratio was 2.2:1, this ratio tended to diminish with age. Out of 202 cases the middle third of the oesophagus was involved in 104, the lower third in 72 and the upper third in 26 cases. Although squamous cell carcinoma was by far the most frequent histologic type (193 cases), genuine primary oesophageal adenocarcinoma did occur in 3, and the tumour was completely anaplastic in the remaining 6 cases. The prognostic bearing of certain morphologic features has been discussed. Oesophageal carcinoma is one of the most frequent malignancies of the gastrointestinal tract and a common tumour in elderly Indian men and women.

A case of teratoma of the thyroid gland in a 3-month-old child is reported. Present since birth, it presented as an acute respiratory emergency. This was relieved by surgical removal. The tumor showed normal thyroid tissue flanking the mass and at surgery was seen to derive its blood supply from the main thyroid vessels.

Eight cases of adenocystic carcinoma of the uterine cervix, a rare histologic variant, are presented, with a brief review of 41 cases previously reported in the literature. They represent only 0.27% of 3254 cervical carcinomas that we encountered between 1962 and 1977. In all eight cases, there was early parametrial involvement, and the majority behaved aggressively. All eight patients were multiparas, and six of them were postmenopausal. Interestingly, including this series, 15 of 49 reported cases of this entity have been from India.

Indian childhood cirrhosis of the liver continues to be a major cause of morbidity and mortality of children living in the Indian sub-continent. The present paper deals with the morphological changes in various stages of the disease process. Ballooning and feathery degeneration of hepatocytes, complete absence of fatty change, frequent occurrence of intracytoplasmic hyaline bodies, dissection of pseudolobules by fibrous septa and fibrosis around single cell were notable features. A few cases also showed giant-cell transformation and pseudo-adenomatous arrangement of hepatocytes. The interpretation of morphologic changes has been discussed and the probability of a toxic aetiology has been suggested.

Mycosis fungoides as a disorder of reticulo-endothelial system occurs in the eczematous or psoriatic stage, progresses to infiltrated plaque stage and finally to tumorous form with or without systemic spread. The head and neck is rarely involved. A case is presented in which the disease process started as a tumor (d'emblee type) and remained localized in the head and neck region without a generalized spread. The tumorous lesion rapidly increased in size and involved deeper tissues of the neck to cause infranuclear facial palsy and medial bulging of the tonsil' it also extended in the superior mediastinum casuing pressure on the trachea and the esophagus. The patient died of respiratory failure.

The clinical features of the giant cell tumor of the sphenoid bone have been discussed and a case report has been added to the fourteen cases reported in the literature. Such cases may first report to an ophthalmologist, an otolaryngologist, a neurologist, or an internist. They should consider this condition in a patient who complains of headache, ocular symptoms such as diplopia, and diminution of vision progressing to complete blindness. The presence of multiple cranial nerve palsies involving II, III, IV, V, and VI nerves in various combinations and the sellar erosion in the lateral x-ray of the skull are quite suggestive of this tumor which should be confirmed by biopsy. The telecobalt therapy appears to give the best results.

Pathological features of twenty-one cases of malignant melanoma studied in the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu during the period January, 1974 to December, 1975 are presented. Malignant melanoma accounted for 2.4% of all tumours and 4.5% of all malignant tumours, greatest age incidence being in the fifth to seventh decades. The male to female sex ratio was 2:1. 73.2% of cases were of the nodular variety. 81% melanomas occurred on the sole of feet validating the hypothesis that the pigmented skin in Africans is resistant to malignant melanoma. Melanoma in Nigerians would appear essentially to be arising from epidermal melanocytes and not from preexisting naevus cells. Hence we do not feel prophylactic removal of plantar moles as suggested by Onuigbo (1975) is desirable. Histologically, there was no clear association between the cell types and the kind of melanoma or invasion of the tumour. The difference in behaviour and natural history of malignant melanoma would appear to have a bearing on the local tissue and also general immune mechanisms of the host.

A patient was admitted to hospital in a state of collapse with a history of uncontrolled melcena and hcematemesis for three days. Autopsy revealed primary diffuse malignant lymphoma of the duodenum as its cause. The condition is considered worthy of record on account of its extreme rarity