244 THE INTERNAL SECRETIONS—1920 
may present the same hypogonadism that is found in 
pathological conditions. 
I quote the following from an author who is evidently 
of the same opinion as myself: 
“The diagnosis need not be discussed further, and its 
successful control through a mythical elixir vitae has 
been the goal of many from time immemorial, and from 
Ponce de Leon to the present day. Hypogonadism 
may be amenable to organotherapy even in elderly 
men, and the fundamental principles of homostimula- 
tion holds good in proportion to the responsiveness of 
the glands thus stimulated. It is a broader matter than 
the gonads alone, as the thyroid, pituitary and other 
endocrine glands all play their part. Senility then is 
hypocrinism rather than hypogonadism alone, and if 
we must treat it, it should be treated in the larger 
sense, and when organotherapy is in mind, it should be 
pluriglandular therapy. 
Thus the failures of the past have acted as stepping 
stones to a more thorough investigation and firmer un- 
derstanding of the subject. The solution of the vital 
functioning of the body depends on endocrine secretion, 
as do the senile and presenile phenomena. 
SENILITY AN ENDOCRINE MALNUTRITION 
Senility or old age is inevitable. It is the logical 
termination of the human organism. The allotted time 
of three-score years and ten, however, is only tradi- 
tional, and there is no scientific reason why the human 
being must wither and cease to become a functioning 
factor after this time. We have accepted the age of 
seventy as the time for dysfunction, because we have 
had no specific therapy to combat its ravages. In other 
words, we have accepted the ultimatum because we 
have had no argument in the form of resistance to com- 
bat its ravages. 
