The Journal of experimental medicine
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If we now consider briefly the principal results of our investigation, we can, in comparing the behavior of the thyroid after auto- and homeoplastic transplantation, in general recognize three stages. In the first stage, comprising the first 4 to 5 days after transplantation, there is no noticeable difference between the auto- and homeograft; both corresponding pieces behave in the main alike; large parts of both grafts become necrotic in the center; the necrosis begins shortly after the transplantation and concerns only a part of the periphery; here a narrow zone of thyroid tissue is left; it consists of one to two rows of partly well recognizable follicles. After 48 hours the first fibroblasts, polynuclear leucocytes, and lymphocytes appear in the tissue surrounding the grafts. ⋯ In some homeografts destruction by means of lymphocytes, in others by connective tissue, preponderates. The rapidity with which the destruction takes place in different homeotransplants also varies. A much better blood vessel supply develops in the autograft than in the homeograft.