210 THE PITUITARY, THYROID AND ADRENALS AS A SYSTEM. 



stituent, according to him; but he also states that iodothyrin 

 contains practically all the iodine found in thyreoglobulin, a 

 proteid of which he had just said 40 : "It contains the whole 

 of the iodine in the gland and is the seat of the active con- 

 stituent." Hence iodothyrin not only contains all the iodine 

 of the colloid material, but also its phosphorus. In the paper 

 last mentioned, however, written over four years after that 

 in which he refers to phosphorus, the various bodies found in 

 small amounts in the thyroid xanthin, hypoxanthin, inosite, 

 creatin, sarcolactic acid, etc. are mentioned, but phosphorus 

 is not referred to. He further states that, "with the exception 

 of iodothyrin, no substance has yet been isolated from it to 

 which therapeutic properties can certainly be ascribed." This 

 in no way invalidates the evidence adduced as to the presence 

 of arsenic, discovered by Armand Gautier, since Hutchinson 

 evidently did not look for it, but it coincides with the clinical 

 observation that, while thyroid extract increases the growth 

 of young cretins, it fails to supply them with phosphorus. The 

 small amount of phosphorus obtained is doubtless that con- 

 cerned with the metabolism of the glandular tissues themselves; 

 and it may be concluded that the thyroid secretion does not 

 supply this metal to the tissues with which it is concerned, and 

 that the role of phosphorus in the thyroid itself is limited to 

 its use in the intrinsic cellular metabolism of this organ. Of 

 course, the output of phosphoric acid is greatly increased after 

 the ingestion of thyroid extract, but we have in this fact only 

 further testimony as to its ability to enhance the activity of 

 the pituitary, this organ, in turn, stimulating the adrenals, 

 thereby increasing oxidation. Evidently iodine remains the 

 predominating thyroidal product. 



That the thyroid and the pituitary differ in this particular 

 is clear. The connection between the pituitary and the various 

 pathological processes reviewed, and especially the influence of 

 this organ on bone overgrowth obviously points to the pres- 

 ence of phosphorus in its secretion. This is verified by de 

 Cyon, who isolated a phosphorus-containing substance from the 

 pituitary which he termed "hypophysin." He obtained from 



40 Baumann: Practitioner, April, 1901. 



