An Outline of the Cytology and Pathology of the Reticular Tissue

This book in many ways succeeds in being more than the "outline" that it avowedly sets out to be. The concept of "the reticulo-endothelial system" is redrawn. Less is made of the dye-binding and phagocytic properties that have been stressed by Aschoff and Kiyono. These are considered simply a phase in the activity of certain of the cells. The reticular tissue is defined as a "tissue composed of fixed cells (primitive reticular cells) supported on a framework of fibrils and including all cells in the body derived from this tissue." In view of the transformation in vitro of monocytes obtained from the blood into fibroblasts as demonstrated by Ebeling, this definition is somewhat unsharp, but it is perhaps as good as any available. The "metalophil" properties of certain elements of the reticular tissue that have been extensively studied by the author are well described. The remarkably large and complex processes of these cells when impregnated with silver are well demonstrated. Correlations of this property with other features of these elements in health and disease require further elaboration. The book is especially valuable for its lucid presentation of a vast amount of information regarding the form and functions of the reticular tissue in the normal and hyperplastic states. The reactions to hormonal and other influences are well detailed. There is also a timely and important summary of the r6le of these cells in antibody production, and of the anatomical expression of this process and of sensitivity reactions. Results of such recent studies as those with fluorescent antibodies are included. Less illuminating is the discussion of neoplasia. It requires more justification than is given to apply such perplexing terms as "lympho-reticular medullary reticulosis." Many readers will be surprised to find a firm denial of the transformation of one histological type of reticular neoplasm into another, and that Hodgkin's disease is classified as a benign multi-focal tumor. In this subject, however, each man to his taste for the present. The section on lipid storage diseases by J. B. Cavanagh is concise, well written, and highly informative. The essential unity of eosinophilic granuloma, Hand-Schiiller-Christian disease, and Letterer-Siwe disease is accepted with no perceptible qualms. It is surprising not to find S. B. Wolbach first and foremost among those credited with the interpretation of "sclerosing hemangioma" for the lesion of the skin considered "histiocytoma" by others. Technically, the book is a credit to the publishers, as well as to the authors. The photomicrographs are abundant, of well-selected fields, and are excellently reproduced. A more careful checking of proper names quoted in the text would have been in better keeping with the other merits of the volume.