350 INTERNAL SECRETION 



increased volume as the result of hyperplasia of the glandular 

 cells are produced in the anterior lobe of the hypophysis by 

 alteration of function on the part of certain other internal secretory 

 organs. Suppression or modification of the thyroid function and 

 that of the sexual glands is followed by such hypertrophy. 



In the second place, functional and anatomical changes in 

 the hypophysis are associated with changes in the thyroid gland, 

 the genital glands, and perhaps also in the suprarenals. The 

 exact manner in which these consecutive changes take place is 

 not, as yet, exactly known. It is probable that hyperf unction of 

 the hypophysis is associated with hypertrophy of the cortical 

 portion of the suprarenals, together with a diminution both of 

 function and of volume in the thyroid. The correlationship 

 between the hypophysis and the genital glands appears to be even 

 more complicated. Experiments with animals and observation of 

 Frohlich's dystrophia adiposogenitalis show that hypoplasia of 

 the genitals is combined with reduced hypophysal function ; while 

 acromegaly and gigantism, which are regarded as manifestations 

 of hyperpituitarism, are also characterized by defective sexual 

 activity. 



The internal secretory activity of the hypophysis is mani- 

 fested, moreover, in the influence which this organ has upon the 

 metabolic processes which take place in the body. The most 

 important is undoubtedly the effect which it has upon develop- 

 ment. Even the hyperactivity of the hypophysis which is 

 observed during pregnancy as the result of inhibition of the 

 ovarian function, is associated with developmental changes which 

 affect not the soft parts only, but also the bones. A greater degree 

 of hyperpituitarism leads to abnormal growth in height and to 

 remarkable increase in the volume of the acral portions. On the 

 other hand, the removal of the anterior lobe of the hypophysis is 

 followed in young individuals by a marked arrest of development. 

 That form of hypopituitarism which leads, both in animals and 

 man, to a conspicuous increase in the deposition of fat shows how 

 important is the part which this organ plays in the metabolism 

 of fat. 



THE PINEAL BODY. 



(GLANDULE PINEALIS, EPIPHYSIS, CONARIUM). 



The structure which Descartes believed to be the seat of the 

 soul must, upon clinical grounds, be included among those organs 

 which, by the agency of their internal secretion, exercise a 

 demonstrable influence upon the somatic and psychic develop- 

 ment of the individual, as well as upon the nutritional condition 

 of the body and of certain tissues. In a work published last year, 

 O. Marburg gives a very complete account of the normal and 



