Xli PREFACE AND SUMMARY OP CONTENTS. 



adrenal stimulants. Syphilis likewise revealed itself as due to 

 adrenal insufficiency. Here, however, it was of gradual devel- 

 opment, the terminal stages being attended with actual death 

 of circumscribed areas of the peripheral tissues: those, indeed, 

 most liable to succumb to denutrition. In "secondary" syphilis 

 a powerful stimulant of the adrenal system, mercury, is effi- 

 cacious; later on, in the "tertiary" form, a still more powerful 

 agent is required, i.e., Nature's own stimulant: iodine. 



We were also led to conclude, in this connection, that the 

 majority of drugs, toxins, physiological toxalbumins, etc., stim- 

 ulated the adrenal system, when the proportion of these agents 

 in the blood did not exceed a certain limit, and that when this 

 limit was exceeded, i.e., when the dose administered, or the 

 amount of toxins secreted by bacteria, etc., was excessive, it 

 either inhibited or arrested the functions of this system. A 

 large dose of quinine may, for instance, cause adrenal over- 

 activity, a flushed face, a bounding pulse, etc.; but, if the dose 

 is excessive, it will overwhelm the adrenal system, the signs 

 of which are always similar, i.e., pallor, a weak and rapid pulse, 

 etc. Pneumonia illustrates a similar course of events, but due 

 to toxins; the erethic stage exemplifies excessive functional 

 activity of the adrenal system: a protective process, "fever," 

 having for its purpose the conversion of pathogenic elements 

 into benign waste-products by cleavage and oxidation. When 

 the proportion of toxins increases notwithstanding this pro- 

 tective function, the adrenal system lapses into insufficiency, 

 that stage during which active stimulation of the adrenal 

 center, the anterior pituitary body is our sheet-anchor. 



This brought to light a number of diseases: tetanus, epi- 

 lepsy, hydrophobia, septicaemia, eclampsia, and kindred disor- 

 ders, in which symptomatic treatment could prove harmful. In 

 tetanus, for example, the convulsions normally suggest the use 

 of cannabis Indica, the bromides, etc., as sedatives or depresso- 

 motors. In the light of our views, precisely the opposite course 

 is indicated, i.e., active stimulation of the adrenal system, be- 

 cause the convulsions are not due to the tetanus toxins, but to 

 accumulated waste-products. Indeed, the effect of this toxin 

 is to gradually reduce the efficiency of the adrenal system and 

 of all oxidation processes accordingly. The present mortality 



