EPILOGUE 



Despite the gradual advance in our knowledge of the adrenal 

 glands, we are still unable to answer satisfactorily the question 

 proposed by the Academy of Bordeaux in 1716 — "Quel est 

 V usage de glandes surrenales?" Neither chance observation, 

 which Montesquieu suggested might some day answer this 

 question, nor the devoted zeal of the many workers who have 

 applied themselves to its solution have answered satisfactorily 

 this fundamental question. However, the labor of these in- 

 vestigators has not been in vain. The past work has made 

 possible the formulation of certain definite views concerning 

 the adrenals and has divested our minds of some of the early 

 confusing ideas concerning these glands. 



The fundamental problems relating to the adrenals which 

 await future solution are clearly definable. The chemical 

 study of the cortical hormone is of paramount importance. 

 A knowledge of its structure will perhaps throw light on its 

 action in the organism, and make possible an attempt to 

 synthesize it. The synthesis of the hormone is extremely 

 desirable because of the comparatively difficult and expensive 

 task of obtaining it in pure form from natural sources. 



Any physiological effects of the cortical hormone when 

 injected into normal animals has not been demonstrated. The 

 claims that such effects have been obtained are to be attributed 

 to the presence of sundry impurities. Future workers must 

 ensure themselves that they are actually dealing with relatively 

 pure preparations of the hormone and are not being misled by 

 extraneous effects. The same criticism is to be applied to the 

 past work on the effects of the hormone in disease. As we 

 have seen, the extant work claiming therapeutic effects in 

 surgical shock, infections, glaucoma, etc. is scarcely to be taken 

 seriously. The worker in the future should be less naive in 

 accepting the claims of potency as stated on the label of his 



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