434 



V. THE NATURE OF EVOLUTION 



enhanced by the cortical hormones. This may be dependent on the 

 prevention of the infection of the diseases presumably owing to the 

 hygienic life modus of the civilized people. Civilized life may thus 

 prevent the infection of not only bacterial but also of some viral 

 diseases. 



However, in general, adrenalectomy has been found to diminish the 

 capacity of the body to withstand such stresses as infection, and a 

 more or less complete return to previous resistance is achieved by the 

 administration of sufficient amounts of adrenocortical hormones. This 

 is the case also with Addison's disease. The value of adrenocortical 

 hormones to the patients with Addison's disease hardly requires no 

 comment (128). In view of this fact, it may safely be concluded that 

 if disfunction of adrenal cortex is prevailed in some barbarous life, 

 infections by various pathogens including tuberculosis should occur 

 strikingly among the uncivilized people. 



Whooping-cough is similar in many respects to an ordinary virus 

 disease, and the incidence of the disease is much higher in United 

 States and European countries than in Japan. Even in Japan it is more 

 frequent in towns than in the country. According to the investigation 

 of Nukada (132) in our laboratory, the incidence of Whooping-cough in 

 Japanese children is the lesser, the greater their number in a family, 

 provided that the number is greater than three, as shown in Fig. 40. 



SO- 

 TO 

 60 



>- 50 



■p 



^ 40 

 30 

 20- 

 10- 



3 4 5 6 



' Number of children 



Fig. 40. Mobidity of whooping-cough in families of various sizes. 



