236 MAN --AN ADAPTIVE MECHANISM 



experiments, cats and rabbits, in which the nerve supply 

 to the adrenals had been divided, after recovery from 

 the operation showed no evidence of an increased out- 

 put of adrenin after intense psychic or toxic activa- 

 tion which in normal animals caused a large increase 

 of the adrenin output. There is as yet no convincing 

 proof that increased activity of the adrenals alone 

 causes cardiovascular disease, but there is evidence that 

 the adrenals play an important r61e in the causation of 

 that disease. 



Note on Arterio-sclerosis 



The literature on the etiology of arterio-sclerosis is a 

 long record of superlative stimulations and deep de- 

 pressions a story of great risks taken and great losses 

 borne ; of heavy burdens carried and long strains en- 

 dured ; of vast responsibilities assumed ; of excessive 

 dissipations ; of chronic infection ; of auto-intoxica- 

 tion ; of overindulgence in food and intoxicants ; of 

 great joys and great griefs; of hopes, anxieties and 

 despair. It is essentially a story of the modern world ; 

 of power and progress and success; of liberty and 

 luxury and of their antitheses ; of mental tolerance com- 

 bined with bitter, crushing oppression. The contem- 

 plative scholar of the Middle Ages, the bucolic Swede, 

 the wandering Scotch bard, the Italian peasant, 

 probably rarely knew arterio-sclerosis, except as the 

 logical accompaniment of a ripe old age. The director 

 of vast financial enterprises, the man who holds the 

 fates of thousands in his hand, he who carries tremen- 

 dous physical burdens : the Chinese coolie, the Japanese 

 rickshaw man, the athlete of the western world, the 



