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the supra-renal capsules. In Dr. Gould's case, however, there 

 was no alteration of the capsules, but there was granular deg(!n- 

 eration of the kidneys. 



Dr. Gould inquired if tlie real use of these organs had been 

 discovered. The effects of their absence are well known. 



Dr. Sequard replied that his hypothesis was that the function 

 of the supra-renal capsules was to prevent the formation of pig- 

 ment in the blood, and he thought he had isolated a substance from 

 the blood which would be changed into pigment were it not for the 

 action of these organs. This substance, perhaps, may be pro- 

 duced in such a quantity that the capsules cannot destroy it, even 

 when they are in a healthy state. In the cases of" bronzed skin" 

 the coloring matter of the skin, as examined under the microscope 

 by himself in Paris, and by Dr. Dalton in New York, proved to 

 be the same as in the skin of the negro ; and, as in the blood in 

 the same disease, pigment-cells, pigment-granules contained in a 

 transparent substance different from fibrine, and peculiar crystals 

 of an unknown substance, just referred to, are found, he thought 

 there was some ground for the hypothesis that these organs are 

 pigment-destroying agents. He had seen the crystalline plates 

 sufficiently large to become impacted in the capillaries and pre- 

 vent circulation of the blood, and consequently he believed if 

 they were not the prime cause of many disturbances of tlie 

 nervous influence, they should at least be considered a partial 

 cause. He had likewise observed an absence of blood-discs in 

 the vena cava, which would imply a great alteration of the 

 blood. 



The President inquired if there were any bronzing of the skin 

 in anencephalous foetuses, where there is a relatively small de- 

 velopment of the supra-renal capsules. 



M. Sequard replied that the absence of bronzed skin in such 

 cases might be explained by the capsules of the mother supply- 

 ing the place of those of the foetus in utero in purifying the 

 blood from pigment. He had experimented upon guinea-pigs, 

 and had found that life was sustained for a longer period, viz : 

 fifteen and a half hours, on an average, in the pregnant animal, 

 than in the non-pregnant condition, viz : thirteen hours. 



Dr. Abbot asked if the capsules had been examined in the 

 negro. 



