PREFACE AND SUMMARY OP CONTENTS. XIX 



the absent factor, and that if the patient labors of so many 

 great minds had not proven as useful in the development of 

 practical medicine as they should, it was because they lacked 

 such a fundamental frame-work to afford a fixed nidus for each 

 discovery, wherein its true relation to other discoveries would 

 at once become evident. What details we have introduced, 

 therefore, only had for their purpose to show that the newer 

 organic substances described the oxygen-laden adrenal secre- 

 tion of the plasma, for example were inherent parts of the 

 organism as a whole. What we have said of the physiological 

 chemistry of glycogen, myosinogen, urea, and many other 

 bodies, may not stand the scrutiny of an Ehrlich, a Gautier, an 

 Abel, a Chittenden, a Vaughan; but the fact that such men are 

 available to promptly correct what errors we might have made 

 gave us the confidence to proceed with our work without undue 

 anxiety. We did our utmost, with what limited knowledge we 

 possessed of these various auxiliary branches of medicine, to 

 clearly set forth our views, and will accept with gratitude any 

 warranted correction which our fellow-workers may deem 

 necessary. 



That our conception of the functions of the ductless glands 

 is well grounded seems probable. Had it been otherwise, the 

 existing concordance between the various parts of the work 

 could not have been obtained; nor would solidly established 

 data have fallen normally into line without requiring hypo- 

 thetical functions to establish their usefulness in the elucida- 

 tion of the many questions which our investigation awakened. 

 If we are not mistaken, this affords in itself the kind of evi- 

 dence which betokens sound premises. 



We may also venture the opinion that, if our views are 

 based on a firm foundation, our labors have served to illustrate 

 the dangers of promiscuous self-medication indulged in by the 

 general public. Indeed, we will have occasion to show, in the 

 second volume, that vulnerability to disease may not only be 

 thus acquired, but that the adrenal system, when debilitated 

 through injudicious stimulation, is unable to protect the or- 

 ganism when disease is initiated. 



In addition to periodical literature, a large number of 

 books were consulted. Among these, however, two have been 



