Kalevi Niemineva

Observations on the development of the hypophysial-portal system.

The writer found that the hypophysial‐portal system is fully developed in human fetuses at term. About the middle of the fetal period, on the other hand, the capillary tufts essential to this system which penetrate from the sinusoids of the pars tuberalis into the region of the median eminence and the neural stalk are not demonstrable. As fetal life progresses the formation of these vessel tufts can be seen.

On Prenatal Changes in the Relative Weights of the Human Adrenals, the Thymus and the Thyroid Gland

The authors examined the weight during the fetal period of the adrenals, the thymus, the thyroid gland and for purposes of comparison the kidneys of fetuses up to 2500 grams and observed the following.

On Convulsions in Early Childhood and Their Prognosis An investigation with follow-up examinations of patients treated for convulsions at the Children's Clinic of Helsinki University

The authors have investigated the convulsions appearing in spasmophilia and infectious disease and especially their prognosis as revealed by follow‐up examinations. The material comprises 221 children, treated for convulsions in the Helsinki Childrens Clinic 1920—41. The cases were classified in four groups: infection convulsions (91 cases), spasmophilia (61), miscellaneous convulsions (54), and uncertain cases of epileptic convulsions (15).

On Changes in the Capillary Vascularity of the Hypophysis in the Human Foetus

The author has investigated the development of the capillaries in the hypophysis of man during the latter half of the foetal period and made the following observations.

A Study of the Ascorbic Acid and Cholesterol Content of Human Foetal Adrenals

In recent times an interesting correlation has been established lietween the chemistry of the adrenal glands and stress phenomena in the human being ( U o t i l a and P e k k a r i n e n , 1951) and especially in experimental animals ( L o n g , 1946, 1952; S a y e r s and S a y e r s , 1938; S e l y e , 1950). In this connection attention has been drawn in the first place to ascorbic acid and cholesterol concentrations reflecting adrenal cortical activity. I t is true that chemical studies of the human adrenal in particular have been relatively few; there are even fewer corresponding studies on human foetuses ( G i r o u d et al., 1938; N e y m a n n , 1939; T a l i k i , 1951; N i e m i n e v a and P e k k a r i n e n , 1952) in whom the adrenals are characterized by a comparatively large cortex. Since adrenal chemistry in the intra-uterine period presents an interesting research problem of its own, we have performed some tentative preliminary determinations of the ascorbic acid and cholesterol contents in the human foetal adrenal during the middle and final trimester of gestation.