672 TEXTBOOK OF ZOOLOGY 



believe that the cortex regulates the normal flow of blood, which 

 would account for the fatal results of its removal. An extract has 

 been secured from the adrenal cortex of cattle in particular and is 

 used for the treatment of conditions resulting from malfunctioning 

 of the cortical portion of the adrenals in other organisms. Some 

 have shown cortin to have capacity for delaying the onset of scurvy 

 in vitamin C deficiency. 



After complete bilateral removal of the adrenal cortex, the fol- 

 lowing were the average survival periods for these several animals: 

 opossums, six days; guinea pigs, seven days; dogs, ten days; cats, 

 twelve days; while rabbits and rats may live on quite normally, 

 because of the presence of accessory inter-renal tissue. Symptoms 

 of insufficient cortin are loss of appetite with particular distaste for 

 fats, vomiting, diarrhea, muscular twitching, tetanic convulsions, 

 lowering of blood pressure and body temperature, and decline in 

 urine secretion and heart rate. Lack of cortin is said to disturb 

 the salt relation in the blood (particularly sodium chloride and 

 potassium), the water metabolism and redistribution in the body, 

 the metabolism (especially absorption) of intermediate carbohy- 

 drates and fats, and milk production in females (at least in cats). 



The Pituitary Gland 



The pituitary gland is the human being is a body weighing about 

 0.5 Gm., lodged in a depression at the base of the brain. It consists of 

 two principal parts : the anterior lobe and the posterior lobe. These 

 two portions have distinct functions. The vital importance of this 

 body was not realized for many years, but a series of observations 

 has placed it in a position of such importance that it has been 

 referred to as the regulator of the glandular system. The pituitary 

 gland is now known to be the source of a number of hormones, and 

 their functions are so closely connected with those of other endo- 

 crine secretions that they apparently have a part in all hormonal 

 processes of the body. 



The secretions of the anterior lobe of the pituitary affect the 

 growth and development of the organism in general, the general 

 metabolism of the body, the development of the sex organs, and 

 work with other hormones in controlling additional processes. In- 

 efficiency in the anterior lobe, furnishing the body with either too 

 much or too little of the growth-promoting hormone, phyrone, re- 



