34:8 SECRETION. 



This dog had a remarkably sleek and well-nourished appear- 

 ance. 



The above is a striking example of the change in the 

 appetite and disposition of animals after extirpation of the 

 spleen ; but these results are by no means invariable. We 

 have often removed the spleen from dogs, and kept the ani- 

 mals for months without observing any thing unusual ; and, 

 on the other hand, we have observed the change in dis- 

 position and the development of an unnatural appetite, in 

 animals after removal of one kidney ; these effects were also 

 very well marked in an animal with biliary fistula, that lived 

 for thirty-eight days. In the latter instance, the voracity 

 could be explained by the disturbance in digestion and as- 

 similation produced by shutting off the bile from the intes- 

 tine ; but these phenomena occurring after removal of one 

 kidney, which appeared to have no effect upon the ordinary 

 functions, are not so readily understood. "We have observed 

 both increase in the appetite and the development of ex- 

 traordinary ferocity after extirpation of one kidney almost in- 

 variably, since our attention has been directed to this point ; 

 and in those experiments of which records were preserved, 

 these effects were very marked. In one, a dog lived for 

 nearly two years with one kidney, and was finally killed. 

 The appetite was voracious and depraved. He would eat 

 dogs' flesh greedily. In another, death took place in con- 

 vulsions, forty-three days after removal of one kidney, the 

 animal having apparently recovered from the operation. 

 This dog was very ferocious, had an extraordinary appetite, 

 and would eat fasces, putrid dogs' flesh, etc., which the other 

 dogs in the laboratory would not touch. The other dog 

 entirely recovered from the operation of removing one kid- 

 ney, and presented the same phenomena. 



In view of the above facts, it must be admitted that the 

 removal of the spleen in the lower animals and the human 

 subject has thus far demonstrated nothing, except that this 

 part is not essential to the proper performance of the vital 



