X PREFACE AND SUMMARY OF CONTENTS. 



of the adrenals having been determined., the functions of the 

 other ductless glands were studied. Our investigation then 

 showed that the adrenals were directly connected with the 

 anterior pituitary body through the solar plexus, the splanchnic 

 nerves, and the cervico-thoracic ganglia of the sympathetic. 

 Indeed, this diminutive organ, hardly as large as a pea, and 

 now thought to be practically functionless, proved to be the 

 most important organ of the body, as governing center of the 

 adrenals, and, therefore, of all oxidation processes. 



In general diseases what has been termed the patient's 

 "vitality," or "vital resistance," thus became ascribable to fluct- 

 uations in the anterior pituitary body's functional efficiency. 

 In other words, overactivity of this organ, by correspondingly 

 enhancing the production of adrenal secretion, was found to 

 increase metabolism and the activity of all functions in pro- 

 portion; while depression of its normal activity, by inhibiting 

 the production of adrenal secretion and thus reducing the quan- 

 tity of oxygen distributed throughout the entire organism, pro- 

 portionally lowered the activity of all vital processes. But the 

 manner in which the functional efficiency of this organ was 

 maintained had also to be elucidated. This led us to the thyroid 

 gland, whose physiological purpose, we found, was to sustain 

 the functional efficiency of the anterior pituitary body up to 

 a certain standard by means of its secretion: iodine in organic 

 combination. Excessive production of this secretion, by causing 

 overstimulation of the anterior pituitary body, gave rise, when 

 prolonged, to "exophthalmic goiter"; while reduced produc- 

 tion of thyroid secretion, by inhibiting the functions of the 

 anterior pituitary body, caused myxcedema. The thyroid gland, 

 the anterior pituitary, and the adrenals were thus found to be 

 functionally united: i.e., to form an autonomous system, which 

 we termed the "adrenal system." 



Further investigation in this direction showed that the 

 action of thyro-iodine upon the anterior pituitary body rep- 

 resented that of any poison introduced into the blood-stream. 

 In other words, it became evident that, instead of acting 

 directly upon the blood or cellular elements, poisons either 

 stimulated or depressed the functional activity of the adrenal 

 system, thus increasing or reducing the production of adrenal 



