Chinese Medical Journal

96 THE CHINESE MEDICAL JOURNAL

The oculocardiac reflex was found-to be associated with the usual attention phenomenon, irregular respiration and various changes in the heart rate. Two illustrative cases were reported. It was pointed out that with certain precautions the carotid sinus test (even bilateral compression) was a safe diagnostic procedure. The Author

Intracranial Meningioma. Chang Yuan-Ch’ang, Chiang Ta-Chieh, Ch’en Yu-Hsin and Tsou Huan-Wen. Chinese J. Neurol. & Psychiat. 1(3):191-208, 1955. This contains an analysis of 30 cases of intracranial meningiomas with the following

findings: The average age was 32.6 years. There were more female than male patients.:

The average duration of the illness was 21 months. The distributions were parasagittal, 8 cases; adjacent to the lateral sinus, 5 cases; cortical, 3 cases; cortical and subcortical, 3 cases; middle fossa, 5 cases; anterior fossa, 2 cases; sphenoid ridges, 2 cases; posterior fossa, 2 cases. Roentgenograms were taken in 29 cases and in 15 of them they were helpful in localizing the tumor. Ventriculograms were performed in 13 cases, 8 showing the site of the tumor. Angiography was done in 23 cases, 22 giving the location of the tumor. The authors claimed that angiography is safer and mere helpful than ventriculography in supratentorial tumors. Pathologic study revealed 13 cases of endotheliomas, 6 cases of fibroblastomas, 6 cases of fibro-endotheliomas, 2 cases of psammomas, 2 cases of epitheliomas and 1 case of the muco-chondro-osteal type. Twenty-eight cases were

operated on, 6 died soon after operation and 19 were discharged in an improved condi-

tion. Y. K. Feng

The Effect of Crude Soybean Lecithin on the Macrophages in the Subcutaneous Tissue of Rabbit’s Ear. Ma Wen-Chao. Acta Anatomia Sinica 1(1):1-14, 1955.

Crude soybean lecithin was rubbed on the skin of the inner side of the right ear of the rabbit once every other day for a period of two months or longer. The other ear, for control, was also rubbed mechanically without lecithin. A conspicuous increase in size, number and activity of the macrophages in the subcutaneous tissue of the treated ear was demonstrated by means of vital staining through intravenous injection with Trypan blue.

The Striae Medullares of the Fourth Ventricle as Related to the Nucleus Arcuatus. Tsang Yii-Ch’tian. Acta Anatomia Sinica 1(1):15-24, 1955.

Three adult human brain stems which presented a unilateral hypertrophy of the striae medullares of the fourth ventricle were studied in serial Weigert sections with the following results: :

The unilateral hypertrophy of the striae medullares is correlated with the hypertrophy of the contralateral nucleus arcuatus.

In the hypertrophied nucleus arcuatus the fibers collect themselves towards the bottom of the ventral median fissure. The large bundle thus formed courses dorsally along the raphé, crosses to the other side and emerges on the floor of the fourth ventricle. It then turns laterally in the subendymal layer, winding around the tuberculum acusticum to approach the cerebellum.

Besides the main nucleus arcuatus, the fibers of the accessory nuclei on the medioventral surface of the pyramid and of the ventral part of the nucleus raphes also participate apparently in the formation of the striae. The scattered gray patches on the lateral part of the ventricular floor are minor relay stations of the striae medullares.

The nucleus arcuatus and allied nuclear masses are the caudally displaced pontine nuclei, The striae medullares behave just like an aberrant bundle of the brachium points and, as such, they conduct towards the cerebellum.

Besides the striae medullares, the fibers of the nucleus arcuatus are also incorporated into the ventral external arcuate fibers on the same and opposite sides, which curve around the ventrolateral surface of the medulla oblongata towards the cerebellum.

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