[The human pineal gland. Study performed on 747 glands].

The study of 747 human pineal glands shows that the weight of this organ is extremely variable. This weight shows seasonal variations. The weight of the pineal is identical in cancerous and non cancerous patients. It is lower (the difference being statistically highly significative) in a great majority of hepatic diseases. Microscopic study of 54 of these pineal glands (those obtained 2 to 6 hours after death) shows that the pineal concretions may have a variable origin: the vessel walls, the interlobular connective tissue, and certain pinealocytes that can then be colored by alcian blue.