THE ENDOCRINE ORGANS, OR DUCTLESS GLANDS 769 



secondary sexual characters. The subjects of these growths (Pig. 191), 

 which are termed hypernephromata, present, in many cases, a most re- 

 markable appearance. A boy, for instance, of four or five years may 

 possess the sexual development of a mature male, the testicles are en- 

 larged, hair grows upon the chest and pubis, and a moustache or a beard 

 may develop. There may be also undue muscular development or ex- 

 treme obesity of an adult type, so that these prodigies have been likened 

 in appearance to "an infant Hercules" (Weber) or "a burly brewer's 



Fig. 191. Child aged 4J4 years suffering from hypernephroma. (Guthrie.) 



drayman" (Guthrie). 4 In female children the breasts hypertrophy, hair 

 appears upon the mons veneris and labia majora, the uterus tends toward 

 the mature type, and menstruation may occur. In appearance these 

 patients resemble stout little women. (3) The cortex becomes hypertro- 

 phied during pregnancy. (4) It is ill-developed in sexual deficiency. (5) 

 Changes occur in it during the estrual cycle of many animals. In the 

 frog during the mating season it becomes greatly enlarged at the ex- 

 pense of the medullary tissue and develops^ peculiar pear-shaped ele- 

 ments, the "summer cells" of Stilling. (6) After castration the cortex is 

 said to be hypertrophied. (7) The innermost portion of the cortex, some- 



