INTERNAL SECRETION 241 



native one and placed in a remote part of the body could 

 not be in connection with the old afferent pathways, and 

 whatever favorable effect it might have must be chemical 

 in its origin. 



There has been the same discussion as to whether the 

 reproductive organs exercise their well-recognized influence 

 on growth by nervous or by chemical means. The strange 

 modifications of the type which are produced as a result 

 of castration are familiar. The differences in build and 

 temperament between the unruly bull and the tranquil ox 

 illustrate the consequences. Such peculiarities might be 

 referred to reflex changes due to the removal of sources 

 of stimuli, but the present tendency is to regard them as 

 due chiefly to the loss of active internal secretions. The 

 case of the pancreas reminds us that an organ may well give 

 rise simultaneously to products which are permanently sep- 

 arated from the blood and to others which return to it. 

 Twenty years ago Brown-Se*quard created a furore among 

 people given to premature acceptance of extravagant 

 claims when he announced that great rejuvenating virtues 

 could be demonstrated to exist in the extracts of animal 

 reproductive glands. His so-called "Elixir of Life" was a 

 pulp formed from crushed testes of sheep. At some peril 

 of infection he injected this unsterilized mixture under his 

 skin and into the bodies of other aged volunteers. A cer- 

 tain degree of stimulation was noted, but it has usually 

 been referred to suggestion. 



Since animals and men are at their best physically and 

 intellectually when the reproductive organs are active, 

 the expectation entertained was not wholly unreasonable. 

 Yet it was not to be supposed that their decline was re- 

 sponsible for all the losses incident to age. No extensive 

 use of such extracts has followed the pioneer work of 

 Brown-Sequard. The corresponding preparations from 

 the female ovarian extracts have a better standing in 

 modern medicine. Given after surgical removal of the 

 ovaries they greatly relieve many of the symptoms which 

 commonly annoy the patient. 



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