THE PITUITARY BODY 



port of Freud (1935) on the rapidity of atrophy of certain 

 endocrine organs after hypophysectomy is of interest to in- 

 vestigators. According to this author, complete hypophy- 

 sectomy in the rat is followed by a maximum atrophy of the 

 gonads in 8-10 days, of the secondary sexual organs in 8-25 

 days, of the thyroid in 10 days, and of the adrenals in 14-18 

 days. Liith's report (1937) indicated that spontaneous hypo- 

 physial deficiency in man (Simmonds' disease) may occur in- 

 dependently of genetic constitution. He discovered cases of 

 apparent hypophysial deficiency in individuals with normal 

 identical twins. 



The ejects of growth-promoting hormone {anterior pituitary 

 extract or tissue). — There is a number of recent observa- 

 tions, some clear cut, some difficult to classify otherwise, 

 which bear on the physiology and pharmacology of the 

 growth-promoting hormone. Murayama, Gurchot, and Gut- 

 tentag (1937) concluded that a high concentration (2-4 per 

 cent) of a commercial growth-promoting extract inhibits the 

 root-growth of seedHngs of Lupinus albus; nothing in the re- 

 port indicates that this is a specific effect either of growth- 

 promoting or, indeed, of anterior pituitary extracts. Fresh 

 fowl pituitary was inserted into incubating hen's eggs by 

 Pighini (1937) on the third to the fifth day of incubation. The 

 tissue was absorbed and appeared to favor embryonic growth 

 (seventeenth day of incubation). However, Wolff and Stoll 

 (1937) beheve that embryonic growth and differentiation, 

 including the endocrine organs, takes place in the fowl in the 

 absence of a functional pituitary body. All the other experi- 

 ments were performed in mammals. Several investigators 

 have found that the administration of anterior pituitary ex- 

 tract to pregnant animals, such as the rat, may prolong gesta- 

 tion and promote fetal growth; however, it usually appeared 

 that such changes should be attributed to gonadotropic — ab- 

 normally prolonged secretion by corpora lutea — rather than 

 to growth-promoting hormone. Recently, Watts (1935) re- 

 ported that she was able to cause a significant increase in the 



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