226 CORTEX 



organs and tissues of the body are to some extent interrelated 

 and any change in one occurring concomitantly with that in 

 another need not imply a fundamental interrelation between 

 the two. This is particularly true where the interrelation is 

 only minor, as in the cases to be described below. 



An increase in weight of the adrenals during pregnancy has 

 been described by numerous observers in many animal species 

 (Guieysse, 266 and Watrin 660 in the rabbit; Tamura 622 in the 

 mouse; Verdozzi, 643 Kolde, and Kolmer 361 in the guinea pig; 

 etc.). Donaldson 161 failed to find any enlargement in the rat 

 during gestation, a result which has been confirmed by subse- 

 quent workers. 15 Where such hypertrophy occurred it was due 

 to a coexisting infection. As we have seen in Chapter IV, the 

 degeneration of the androgenic tissue at the inception of preg- 

 nancy is of more significance than the above described minor 

 enlargement of the gland. Moreover, it is questionable if the 

 increase in weight of the gland during gestation really repre- 

 sents an hypertrophy. It may merely be the result of an 

 increase in the lipid store of the gland coincident with the 

 increased lipid content of the blood which occurs during preg- 

 nancy. 



Experiments on the effects of castration on the size of the 

 adrenals have given conflicting results. 16 In rabbits Livings- 

 ton 397 found a tendency to slight enlargement after castration 

 in the male, but none after spaying in the female. Tsubura, 16 

 on the other hand, found the average weight of the adrenals of 

 14 castrated rabbits to be 0.5424 grams as compared to 0.4176 

 grams in the controls. In the guinea pig, the respective weights 

 were 0.2516 and 0.1759 grams. It is questionable how much 

 of the adrenal hypertrophy observed after castration is to be 

 attributed to infection, the effects of anesthesia, shock, etc. 

 Failure to consider the effects of these variables (particularly 

 infection) on the adrenal may account for the enlargements 

 observed by some authors. 12 



The failure of the reproductive system which follows adrenal- 



