XV111 PREFACE AND SUMMARY OF CONTENTS. 



studied in this volume. A comprehensive study of the nerv- 

 ous system and of the functional processes in the various organs, 

 as modified by the presence of previously unrecognized struct- 

 ures, the formation of glycogen, urea, etc., the protective proc- 

 esses in the intestinal canal and respiratory surfaces, could not 

 be satisfactorily summarized. The same may be said of Addi- 

 son's disease, acromegalia and chlorosis, the pathogenesis of 

 fever, the identity of the Widal reaction, the so-called gouty 

 diathesis, glycosuria, cancer, the causes of the predilection of 

 children to certain infectious diseases, the action of a large 

 number of remedies upon the adrenal system, etc. 



Can we pretend that, owing to the care with which our 

 investigations have been conducted, our deductions are invul- 

 nerable? We only formulate this question to answer it nega- 

 tively. The working methods adopted, however, do not seem 

 to us to have rendered any serious deviation from the straight 

 path possible. All theories, even those advanced by all the 

 greatest authorities of the nineteenth century, were totally 

 ignored. Our purpose being to treat each question as if it had 

 been a mathematical problem, positive data were alone used as 

 factors. Preconceived conclusions were under no circumstance 

 allowed to prevail, and the solutions were only formulated after 

 each question had first been submitted to analysis, then to a 

 reconstructive, or synthetic, process. 



We fully realize, however, that our factors were necessarily 

 drawn from a mere fraction of existing literature, though a 

 vast amount of the latter had to be scrutinized, and that the 

 balance of recorded data and future work of the galaxy of 

 brilliant workers which our profession contains in all lands may 

 eventually completely transform our views. Again, we do not 

 lose sight of the fact that our short-comings may have caused 

 us to present distorted images simply through our limited 

 knowledge of several of the branches of science physiological 

 chemistry, for instance to which we have had recourse for 

 light. Yet, if our aim is properly interpreted, it will become 

 apparent that we have encompassed the whole field of medical 

 science in our labors, in the hope that a broad horizon would 

 enable us to discover its weaker parts. 



We found, we may say, that the back-bone of Medicine was 



