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A case of verrucous carcinoma extensively destroying the base of the skull and involving the upper two cervical vertebrae is reported. Death resulted from cranio-cervical dislocation. Verrucous carcinoma, its aetiology and the relationship to the underlying chronic inflammatory process found in this case, are discussed.

The case of a left temporoparietal choroid plexus papilloma in a 12-year-old girl, which recurred 12 months after subtotal resection and apparent full recovery, is described.The two consecutive surgical specimens were studied by light and electron microscopy.The first surgical specimen showed a tumor composed of cells with distended cytoplasm packed with numerous mitochondria characteristic of "oncocytic" change. Thus, tumor was the rare benign oncocytic variant of choroid plexus papilloma. A repeat histologic study of the recurrent tumor 12 months later showed evidence of malignant evolution in the form of multinucleated cells with frequent, often bizarre, mitotic figures.A rarely described oncocytic variant of choroid plexus papilloma that showed evidence of evolution from benign to malignant "oncocytoma" is discussed.

A rare case of intracranial extension of a naso-ethmoid schwannoma is presented. Its subsequent removal with few sequelae confirmed the benign nature and good prognosis of the disease.

Two cases of Aspergillus infection of the nervous system are reported. In the first case it occurred in a healthy individual and presented as a space occupying lesion mimicking a tuberculous granuloma. In the second case it was an opportunistic infection in a patient with predisposing conditions and manifested as chronic meningitis with fatal arteritis.

A 70-year-old man developed panhypopituitarism and was found to have hyperprolactinaemia and a locally invasive pituitary tumour. The visual fields were unaffected and therefore the patient was treated with hormone replacement only. After 3.5 years during which time the pituitary tumour had not enlarged further, the patient developed a mass in the left cerebello-pontine angle. This mass was subsequently shown to be entirely separate from, but histologically identical to, the pituitary tumour and the cells of both contained PRL. Evidence was obtained to show that the tumour had spread by a vascular route. This is the second reported case of a malignant prolactinoma.

A case of malignant teratoma arising near the third ventricle in an adult is reported. It represented a true teratoma containing elements of all three germ layers of which two, namely the mesenchymal and endodermal elements have undergone malignant change. It was characterized by rapid recurrences after two operations with death occurring shortly after the second operation.

Burstone's procedure for the histochemical demonstration of cytochrome oxidase has been studied and applied to sections prepared by freezing in hexane and cutting by the controlled-temperature freezing-sectioning technique. The method has been modified by the inclusion of a treatment with Lugol's iodine to yield a stronger colour, which is stable for at least several weeks and which localizes the enzyme activity more precisely. The variants of the reaction have been compared in their effect on cardiac muscle, liver, and kidney of the rat.

Lysosomes, as demonstrated biochemically in the liver, are subcellular particles containing a group of hydrolytic enzymes enclosed by a membrane-like barrier. They are apparently inactive in the normal state, but when subjected to various forms of injurious treatments the enzymes associated with them are released. The existence of lysosomes in skin is demonstrated in the present communication. The resistance of this tissue to homogenization makes the biochemical study of lysosomes very difficult. Yet, by the application of histochemical methods to sections of skin, it has been possible to use the same criteria as would be employed in the biochemical characterization of these organelles. By using the controlled-temperature freezing-sectioning method it has been possible to obtain frozen sections in which cytoplasmic particles could be demonstrated which were enzymically inactive for acid phosphatase until the sections were subjected to such injurious treatments as heat, repeated freezing and thawing, hypotonic solutions, distilled water, and ‘triton-X-100’. Since the subcellular particles demonstrated behaved in the same manner as lysosomes prepared biochemically from liver, it is concluded that the cytoplasmic organelles staining for acid phosphatase in mouse skin are lysosomes as biochemically defined.

A case of recurrent hidradenoma of the external ear with intracranial spread is described. The presentation, classification and management of this rare tumour are discussed and the importance of adequate long term review is stressed.

Two cases of spinal myoclonus are described; in both patients myoclonus was responsive to stimuli and absent during sleep. The first patient was considered to have viral neuronitis and the condition resolved spontaneously. The second patient had spinal cord ischaemia; there was electro-physiological evidence of abnormal alpha motor neurone activity and histological study of the spinal cord revealed a severe reduction in small and intermediate neurones. This supports the theory that spinal myoclonus may result from abnormal activity of alpha motor neurones released from control by spinal internuncial neurones.

A preliminary study utilizing viable HLA mismatched cultured glioma cells as adjuvant therapy for patients with malignant gliomas

A patient is reported who presented with signs of hypopituitarism. On surgical exploration, she was found to have an intrasellar cyst containing creamy mucoid substance resembling pus. Microscopic examination revealed the lesion to be a Rathke-cleft cyst. These rare lesions are associated with a better prognosis than the typical craniopharyngioma. The distinguishing features between a Rathke-cleft cyst and a craniopharyngioma are discussed.

A sister and brother developed a progressive syndrome comprising bulbar palsy, supranuclear ophthalmoplegia, facial impassivity, and cerebellar ataxia together with a mixed pyramidal and extrapyramidal deficit in the limbs, in the fourth decade of life. Their parents were unaffected and inheritance was probably autosomal recessive. The female patient, who presented initially with bulbar and extrapyramidal dysfunction, was found to have cerebellar cortical atrophy at necropsy. The basal ganglia and brainstem were normal.

SUMMARY.— Mouse skin is highly sensitive to irritants and to carcinogenic agents. Histochemistry has been used to demonstrate that the pattern in malignant growths is distinctively different from that in hyperplasia produced by irritants. Evidence is given to indicate that the altered pattern of metabolism can be discerned after a single application of the carcinogenic 3-methyl-TCQ (tricycloquinazoline) but that no significant alteration is induced by the non-carcinogenic 2-methyl-TCQ.

SUMMARY.— The histochemistry of benzpyrene-induced malignant skin tumours has been studied. The metabolism of these cells appeared to involve suppression of the succinic dehydrogenase-cytochrome oxidase system; enhanced activity for enzymes of the pentose cycle and increased reaction for enzymes associated with the glycolytic pathway. The inhibition of the “succinoxidase” system has been discussed in relation to the possibility of deletion of the enzyme system by the carcinogen. This might result in the release of the metabolism of these cells from the normal regulatory control of the cytochrome pathway thus producing an enhancement of the growth potential of these cells.

IN the course of a study on the histochemistry of experimentally induced carcinogenesis in mouse skin I observed that a few appfications of benzpyrene to the skin induced apparent activation of lysosomes in the epidermis1. I considered it of interest to examine the state of lysosomes in the final tumour stage, especially in tumours classified as malignant.

RECENT reports1,2 have demonstrated the presence of lysosome-like particles in human peripheral blood lymphocytes and have shown that these increase in size and number in tissue culture following stimulation with phytohaemagglutinin. These changes appear to precede the transformation of the small lymphocytes into cells which synthesize RNA and eventually undergo mitosis. In both these reports1,2 it is suggested that these lysosomes are in some way involved in the initiation of cell division.