PREFACE 



The adrenal glands have been an object of intensive re- 

 search since Addison first discovered their relation to a rela- 

 tively uncommon disease. The mass of literature extant on 

 these relatively tiny glands is scarcely commensurate with our 

 knowledge of their function in the animal economy. Despite 

 their small size, the glands must exert a vital influence in the 

 organism for their removal soon leads to a complete breakdown 

 in the normal functioning of practically all the organs and 

 tissues of the body. 



In the present volume an attempt has been made to analyze 

 the great accumulation of literature on the subject of the adre- 

 nals and present a working hypothesis from which the reader 

 may start on his own efforts. A study of the adrenals illus- 

 trates nicely the dependence of endocrinological advances on 

 many fundamental sciences. Modern Endocrinology has be- 

 come the leading branch of medical investigation by adopting 

 anatomy, chemistry, physiology, pharmacology, pathology, 

 and clinical medicine as its tools, and thereby has advanced 

 from the state of quackery in which it had long floundered. 

 Our knowledge of the adrenals has resulted from the combined 

 efforts of chemical, physiological, pathological, and clinical 

 investigators. It is necessary to consider all these diverse 

 sources of information in order to obtain an understanding of 

 these glands in their relation to the body as a whole. 



The bibliography on the adrenals embraces many thousands 

 of references, inclusion of all of which would be undesirable. 

 I have, therefore, cited only a fraction of the literature, particu- 

 larly the more recent work. 



The adrenals have hitherto been looked upon as glands con- 

 taining two essentially separate divisions — the cortex and the 

 medulla. In the present volume I have considered the glands 



