FUNCTIONS SUPPRESSED BY ADRENALECTOMY. 



ply of nerves. He likewise found the aggregate of these nerve- 

 fibrils to be greater than that of the glandular elements proper. 

 It seems evident, therefore, that any organic lesion affecting 

 or involving the peripheral nerve-structures of one organ 

 tuberculosis, cancer, etc. can so compromise its functions as 

 to make it practically useless if suddenly called upon by haem- 

 orrhage into its mate to assume the physiological role of both. 

 All these facts appear to demonstrate that in man, as well 

 as in the lower vertebrates, life continues as long as one of the 

 adrenals is normal, or, at least, as long as any morbid condition 

 affecting this organ intrinsically or extrinsically is not suffi- 

 ciently advanced to materially compromise its physiological 

 functions. But, as is also the case in lower vertebrates, man 

 soon dies if the physiological functions of both organs are ar- 

 rested through any intrinsic or extrinsic disorder, unless some 

 compensating organ or condition be vicariously active. It 

 seems evident, therefore, that the physiological functions of the 

 adrenals are sufficiently similar in all vertebrates to warrant the 

 use of experimental data obtained with lower animals in the study 

 of these organs in man. 



FUNCTIONS OF THE ADRENALS THAT ARE SUPPRESSED 

 WHEN THESE ORGANS ARE REMOVED. 



Cybulski and Szymonowicz 30 found that blood drawn from 

 the suprarenal vein gave rise, when injected into the blood- 

 stream of normal animals, to manifestations similar to those 

 observed after the injection of suprarenal extract. As a con- 

 trolling experiment, these observers also injected blood taken 

 from veins other than the suprarenal, but with negative results. 

 Langlois 31 corroborated these observations as regards the ef- 

 fects of blood obtained from the suprarenal vein. Dreyer 32 

 reached the same results, though not in all animals: a feature 

 of his experiments easily accounted for by the known fact, re- 

 ferred to by Howell, that the amount of substance produced 

 by the organs may vary at different times and under different 



80 Cybulski and Szymonowicz: LOG. cit. 



81 Langlois: Archives de Phys. norm, et path., p. 152, 1897. 



82 Dreyer: Cited by Howell, loc. cit. 



