Evening star., 1938-10-18
OF STARS,
MEN AND ATOMS
Notebook of Science Progress
in Field, Laboratory
and Study.
Bv THOMAS r. HENRY.

oy xAOMAO ". AG"AkA.
The death at Mount Alto Hospital Of
a World War veteran with brain" in
his left lung has just been reported in
the medical bulletin of the Veterans
Administration.
The case is probably unique in the
annals of medicine. When the man
died recently of causes supposed to be
entirely unrelated to this abnormal
growth, according to the report OF DR..
w. Ivan King of the Mount Alto staff,
mass Of brain tissue the size OF golf
ball was found encapsulated in the CEN
trail portion of the upper lobe OF the
lung.
There was no evidence that this had
been malignant growth, and it prob
ably had been present throughout the
mans life without causing him any dis
comfort. although some of the Mount
Alto doctors believed that 1t may have
been a contributing cause to his death.
the direct cause of which was cerebral
apoplexy. The mass was composed, DR..
King reports, almost entirely OF brain
tissue cells. Most Of these, microscopic
and staining tests showed, were OF the
type which compose the cerebrum. where
are located the higher centers of the
brain. There were some cells typical OF
brain connective tissue and very few
of types commonly encountered in the
spine. There were also some patches OF
red blood cells such as might be found
in the brain itself following a cerebral
hemorrhage.
The probable explanation offered in
the report is that while the body Of the
individual was developing, presumably
before birth, some nervous tissue cells
such as ordinarily 60 to make up the
brain lost their way and became con-
fused. When they found safe resting
place in the tissue of the lung they were
satisfied and made no further attempt
to reach their destination.
Within the lung they remained for
time and multiplied. In an unfavorable
development for brain tissue growth,
however, they could not go the whole
way to making lung brain and were
satisfied with forming an isolated,
closed-in colony. In this form they
persisted throughout the mans life.
Meanwhile their companions who had
not lost their way proceeded to build up
the real brain OF the individual which
was in every way normal.
In his diagnosis Dr. King differentiates
this growth sharply from more familiar
type the teratomatas. which are formed
by lost cells and may appear almost
anywhere in the body where they can
find favorable hiding place. They are
sometimes found containing hair. nails.
etc, for which the cells were intended
and which they would have become If
l,nI rhol fhny oil
nation. These, however, usually con-
tain cells representing two or more OF
the germinal layers which go to make
up the body while the brain -in-the-
lung" contained only one type. Cases
have been reported. however, where
single type of cells Of other tissue has
formed an encapsulated mass in some
part of the body.
The mass, of course, was entirely cut
off from any central nervous system
connections SO that 1t could not receive
sensory impulses or exert any control
over behavior. Microscopic examina-
ton, however, showed that the lost cells
had made a real effort to become an
actual brain. Paths of fibrils had been
sent out which evidently were intended
to form communication tracts such as
are found throughout the actual brain.
Why the brain cells, as II by some
unerring instinct should always con-
centrate at the front end of an animal
is not clear. except that from the
simplest organisms upward on the scale
of evolution there has been a con-
stantly cumulative tendency to do this.
But certain forms of dinosaurs had large
nerve cell masses analogous to brains in
their tails, as we'll as the brains in their
heads with which they did their very
inadequate seeing. hearing and thinking.
II the lung-brain had any bad effects
on the man, the report points out, these
did not manifest themselves until he
was 81 years old. When he first ap-
peared at the Veterans Administration
clinic he was strong and well nourished.
but with disordered kidneys and the
beginnings Of arterioscleroSiS. At this
time the strange mass in the lungs was
discerned by X-ray examination and
there was some discussion as to whether
it might not be malignant. There was
no suspicion as to what 1t actually was
until the man was dead. The autopsy
showed a variety Of serious conditions
and the doctors have been unable to de-
eide whether or not the lung brain con-
tributed to the complex. 1t was listed
professionally as one Of the secondary
causes leading to death.
There was little question, however.
that it was a benign growth. During all
the time 1t was under X-ray observation
no increase in size was noted and 1t
showed no signs of cell division charac-
teristic of cancer.