THE EFFECTS OF HYPOPHYSECTOMY 



of 4-6 days after operation, usually molted, lost weight, and 

 became inactive. Their blood still contained less glucose than 

 was normal; but they were not abnormally sensitive to in- 

 sulin. 



THE EFFECTS OF HYPOPHYSECTOMY IN MAMMALS 



Successful hypophysectomy, complete except for remnants 

 of the pars tuberalis or, rarely, of the pars intermedia, has 

 been performed in nine different mammals.^ Many of the 

 discordant results in the literature concern hypophysectomy 

 in the dog, and are due to complications arising from injuries 

 of the hypothalamus. Aschner (1912) recognized the compli- 

 cating dangers of hypothalamic injuries and, unlike Paulesco, 

 Gushing, Biedl, and Blair Bell, correctly maintained that the 

 removal of the pituitary is not immediately fatal. Hypophy- 

 sectomy was satisfactorily performed in other mammals after 

 Smith's (1927) successful operations in the rat. All the evi- 

 dence available from extirpation as well as from other experi- 

 ments in mammals indicates that the pars glandularis is the 

 important division of the pituitary body. After its removal, 

 the gonads, the thyroid, the pancreas, the adrenals, the para- 

 thyroids, and probably the thymus do not function normally. 

 Moreover, growth ceases at once or shortly after operation. 



The effects of hypophysectomy in the rat. — Various techniques 

 by means of which hypophysectomy can be performed in 

 the rat are described in the papers of Smith (1927, 1930), 

 Koyama (1930), Thompson (1932), Wehefritz and Gierhake 

 (1932), CoUip, Selye, and Thomson (1933), M011er-Chris- 

 tensen (1933), Giragossintz (1934), and Anselmino and Pen- 

 charz (1934). The most satisfactory method is probably one 

 by which the gland is approached from below as in Smith's 

 parapharyngeal method. Usually the diaphragm of the sella 

 is not broken and most of the pars tuberalis remains. 



According to Smith (1932), more than 90 per cent of the 



* The cat, dog, ferret, guinea pig, hedgehog, monkey, mouse, rabbit, and rat. 

 [43] 



