THE PITUITARY BODY 



Cockrill, Miller, and Kurzrock (1934) detected an oxytocic 

 substance in the urine of women in labor but not in the urine 

 of men or a non-pregnant woman. Without other control 

 experiments it is difficult to accept the suggestion that this 

 oxytocic substance resembles that of the pars neuralis. 



1. The vasopressor principle. — The vasopressor principle 

 has been thought to have been detected in cerebrospinal fluid 

 (Gushing and Goetsch, Karplus and Peczenik, and others). 

 However, Carlson and Martin as well as Jacobson (1920) and 

 Hoyle (1933) have failed to confirm part of these observa- 

 tions. Likewise, Simon (1933), using the isolated ileum of 

 the guinea pig, could detect no vasopressor principle in cere- 

 brospinal fluid under various conditions. 



Anselmino and Hoff"mann (1931) reported a number of 

 experiments supporting their conclusion that the important 

 symptoms of renal disease of pregnancy or of eclampsia are 

 due to a marked hypersecretion or intoxication by the vaso- 

 pressor principle of the pars neuralis.'" They believed that a 

 liter of the ultra-filtrate of the blood plasma from a patient 

 with either of these diseases contained 2-15 units of the 

 principle. Their observations were not confirmed by Byrom 

 and Wilson (1934) or by Hurwitz and Bullock (1935) who in- 

 vestigated the antidiuretic effects of ultra-filtrates. On the 

 other hand, Marx (1935) concluded that the blood of the 

 eclamptic contains about 2 units of antidiuretic hormone in 

 each liter (four times that of the normal adult or about three 

 times that of the normal pregnant woman). The statement 

 of Anselmino and Hofi^mann that ultra-filtrates of the plasma 

 of patients with a hypertension greater than 180 mm. Hg 

 produces a pressor effect resembling in most respects that of 

 posterior-lobe extracts was not confirmed (Hurwitz and 

 Bullock). 



Conclusions. — Despite the apparent wealth of evidence in 

 favor of the importance of the pars neuralis as a gland of 



'" See also Bickenbach and Rupp (19J4) and Rupp and Bickenbach (1934). 



• [ 334 1 



