DUCTLESS GLANDS — TAYLOR 707 



men in Europe. By careful measurements of the two skulls, the 

 acromegalic modern and the normal prehistoric, he found that each 

 showed the same essential characteristics. Upon the skulls of the 

 higher apes are also seen many of the features of the acromegalic 

 skull. 



These facts prompt the question : Is the pituitary of man of to-day 

 less active than was that of prehistoric man? In other words, was 

 a secretion which would be considered excessive and pathological to- 

 day normal and physiological to Neanderthal man? We are also 

 tempted to ask whether a gradual powering of pituitary function 

 has been an aid or an important factor in the evolution of the facial 

 and other skeletal characteristics of modern man. These questions 

 may be asked, but no one, I think, has been bold enough to answer 

 them dogmatically. And there is one great difficulty in considering 

 these suggestions. We shall show in a moment that the growth- 

 promoting power of the pituitary is not confined to the bones of the 

 face and extremities, but extends to all the bones of the body. We 

 would, therefore, expect, if the gland had the effect which Sir Arthur 

 suggests, that the prehistoric man with the beetling brows and the 

 massive jaw would have been a giant. But he was nothing of the 

 sort; he was in fact below the average height of modern man. 



Acromegaly is a disorder of the anterior lobe of the pituitary in 

 adult life ; that is, after the normal period of growth. But this part 

 of the pituitary may suffer the same disorder in earlier life; that is, 

 during the growing period. The gland may, just as in the case of 

 acromegaly, become too zealous and secrete an inordinate quantity of 

 its very powerful hormone at this time. When it does, it is not 

 only the bones of the face and extremities which overgrow, but all 

 the bones of the body are urged into an extraordinary overdevelop- 

 ment. In this way are giants made. Those men of tremeYidous 

 stature who earn their livelihoods in circus side shows are instances 

 of overactive pituitary glands. Some of these giants reach the " alti- 

 tude " of 8 or 9 feet. They would knock their heads against the ceil- 

 ings in the modern Toronto house and would need to bend nearly 

 double to pass through a doorway. The tallest which I have seen 

 reported was a Finn, 9 feet 5 inches. But there has been a Chinese 

 giant reported who was 8 feet 1 inch, and an American recorded by 

 Dr. Harvey Gushing as over 8 feet 2 inches. These are the extreme 

 cases, but there are many degrees of giantism or gigantism, as the con- 

 dition is called. A certain French baron some years ago sought by 

 encouraging the intermarriage of giants and giantesses of this type 

 to produce a race of supermen, but the experiment, for which a mil- 

 lion francs was subscribed, proved a dismal failure. The gigantic 

 parents had average-sized offspring. And this is a characteristic 



