The degree of calcification and the weight of pineal glands in Ugandan Africans

Abstract

Two hundred formalin fixed, isolated pineal glands from Ugandan Africans have been X-rayed in consecutive unselected post mortems using a laboratory X-ray machine. The degree of calcification has been divided into four stages and according to this up to 43% of all pineal glands after the age of 10 years are likely to be detected in an ordinary skull X-ray. In females the pineal glands have been more often calcified and heavier than in males, however the stalk of pineal glands in males has shown more frequent calcifications than in females. The average weight per decade has been almost constant throughout the life span. In Ugandan Africans the pineal glands were significantly lighter than in Caucasians and possible reasons for this feature are discussed