SECRETION OF THE DUCTLESS GLANDS. 779 



activity of the spinal centers, are greatly improved, not only 

 in cases of general prostration and neurasthenia, but also in the 

 case of the aged. Brown-Sequard maintained that this general 

 dynamogenic effect is due to some unknown substance formed 

 in the testis and subsequently passed into the blood, although he 

 admitted that some of the same substance may be found in the ex- 

 ternal secretion of the testis i. e., the spermatic liquid. Poehl* 

 asserts that he has prepared a substance, spermin, to which he gives 

 the formula C 5 H U N 2 , which has a very beneficial effect upon the 

 metabolism of the body. He believes that this spermin is the sub- 

 stance that gives to the testicular extracts prepared by Brown-Se- 

 quard their stimulating effect. He claims for this substance an 

 extraordinary action as a physiological tonic. Zothf and also 

 PregelJ seem to have obtained exact objective proof, by means 

 of ergographic records, of the stimulating action of the testicular 

 extracts upon the neuromuscular apparatus in man. They find 

 that injections of the testicular extracts cause not only a diminu- 

 tion in the muscular and nervous fatigue resulting from muscular 

 work, but also lessen the subjective fatigue sensations. The fact 

 that the internal secretion of the testis, if it exists at all, is not ab- 

 solutely essential to the life of the body as a whole, as in the case 

 of the thyroids, adrenals, and pancreas, naturally makes the satis- 

 factory determination of its existence and action a more difficult 

 task. 



Similar ideas in general prevail as to the possibility of the ovaries 

 furnishing an internal secretion that plays an important part in 

 general nutrition. In gynecological practice it has been observed 

 that complete ovariotomy with its resulting premature menopause 

 is often followed by distressing symptoms, mental and physical. 

 In such cases many observers have reported that these symptoms 

 may be alleviated by the use of ovarian extracts. Morris \ reports 

 a number of cases in which, after complete removal of the ovaries, 

 a piece of ovary from the same or a different person was grafted 

 into the fundus of the uterus or into the broad ligament. In all 

 cases menstruation persisted, showing, therefore, that the presence 

 of the ovaries is necessary for this function. A similar operation 

 in cases of amenorrhea or dysmenorrhea brought on free and easy 

 menstruation and an improvement in general nutrition and well- 

 being. Glass || also reports a case in which the entire ovary from 

 one woman was transplanted into another patient upon whom com- 

 plete ovariotomy had been performed two years before. The result 



* "Zeitschrift f. klinische Medicin," 26, 133, 1894. 



t"Pfluger's Archiv f. die gesammte Physiologie," 62, 335, 1896; also 

 69, 386, 1897. 



% Ibid., p. 379. Morris, " Medical Record," 1901, p. 83. 



|| Glass, " Medical News," 1899, p. 523. 



