THE PITUITARY BODY 



periments. Simon also found that the amount of hormones 

 in the gland is not disturbed by the injection of posterior- 

 lobe extract, thyroid extract, thyrotropic hormone extract, 

 or insulin. Likewise, the amount of the vasopressor princi- 

 ple in the male guinea pig's pituitary is not altered following 

 the injection of large doses of oestradiol benzoate or thyrox- 

 ine (Schockaert and Lejeune, 1935). Determinations of the 

 amount of oxytocic principle in the pituitary of adult and 

 fetal sheep and pigs were made by Bell and Robson (1937). 

 In terms of international units the pituitary of the adult sow 

 contained 2-4.5 times as much oxytocic principle as that of 



TABLE 9 



* The number of cats is indicated by the numerals in parentheses. 



the adult ewe (14-32 international units compared with 7). 

 The maximum amount of the principle in the gland of new- 

 born animals ranged from 3-7 per cent of the figure for 

 adults. The pituitary of young fetuses often contained much 

 less. 



Bickenbach (1936) could find no difference in the diuresis- 

 inhibiting (and chloride-secreting) effects of the pituitaries of 

 2 patients with eclampsia compared with the effects of 2 

 normal human pituitaries. 



The vasopressor principle. "^ A. As a regulator of water metab- 

 olism in the body. — Ranson and his co-workers have called 

 attention to the work of von Hann (191 8) who investigated 

 the pathology of diabetes insipidus in several human cases 



' Nearly all the evidence indicates that the diuresis inhibiting effects of pars 

 neuralis extracts are due to the vasopressor principle. 



[276] 



