THE SUPRARENAL CAPSULES. 



I^HE function of a gland which has a duct is a com- 

 paratively simple physiological problem, but the use 

 of ductless glands has long been a puzzle to investigators. 

 Recent research has, however, shown that most of, if not 

 all, the ductless glands do form a secretion, and this " in- 

 ternal secretion," as it is termed, leaves the gland by the 

 venous blood or lymph, and thus is distributed and ministers 

 to the needs of parts of the body elsewhere. Many of the 

 glands which possess ducts and form an external secretion, 

 form an internal secretion as well. 1 Among these the liver, 

 pancreas, and kidney must be mentioned. Among the duct- 

 less glands the thyroid has attracted considerable attention, 

 because here important practical results in the treatment of 

 the disease called myxcedema have followed close on the 

 heels of experimental investigation. More recently, how- 

 ever, the suprarenal capsule has excited interest ; whether 

 here also extracts of the gland will prove beneficial in cases 

 of Addison's disease remains to be seen. There is already 

 a small amount of clinical evidence in that direction, 2 but 

 it is more in relation to the physiological aspects of the 

 question that I desire, in this paper, to dwell. 



In Dr. Rolleston's Goulstonian lectures on the suprarenal 

 capsules delivered this year 3 there are as many as 187 

 references to original work on the subject ; the literature is, 

 therefore, far from scanty, but the main facts in the history 

 of our physiological knowledge may be put in a compara- 

 tively short space. This I propose to do very briefly, and 

 then proceed to give an account of the most recent researches 

 in connection with the matter. 



1 The reader is referred for a succinct account of the present state of 

 our knowledge on the general subject of internal secretions to Professor 

 Schafer's address to the British Medical Association, printed in the British 

 Medical Journal, 10th August, 1895. 



2 See Dr. George Oliver, British Medical Journal, vol. ii., p. 653, 1895. 



3 British Medical Journal, vol. i., pp. 629, 687, 745, 1895. 



