RELATIONS OP ANTERIOR AND POSTERIOR PITUITARY. 213 



that of hypophysin, the teachings of chemistry are peremptory, 

 since iodine and phosphorus, when combined, either form a 

 di-iodide (P 2 I 4 ) or a tri-iodide (PI 3 ), both solid bodies. This 

 clearly shows that these elements cannot be considered as the 

 basis of physiological reactions in which any considerable quan- 

 tity of both would be actively engaged. Again, Andriezen, as 

 the result of his exhaustive investigation, says: "It must be 

 remembered that the pituitary belongs both anatomically and 

 physiologically to the central nervous system, 49 while the thy- 

 roid belongs to the respiratory function of the blood-vascular 

 system, and thereby to the tissues generally." 



We could easily, with all these data, arrive at a final con- 

 clusion by contenting ourselves with the mere statement that 

 Andriezen's researches indirectly sustain the view that, while 

 the pituitary supplies the nervous system with phosphorus in 

 organic combination, the thyroid, by its iodine constituent, 

 stimulates the adrenals and thus insures an adequate supply 

 of oxygen. And this would plausibly account for the various 

 phenomena witnessed in connection with the morbid process 

 of either of the organs involved. Still, the pituitary is not 

 composed of one lobe, but of two, and such a conclusion would 

 involve the acceptance of both lobes as chemically and physio- 

 logically similar, or of one of them as alone active, the other 

 being classed as vestigial. Ample clinical evidence shows that 

 the anterior lobe is physiologically active in some way, not- 

 withstanding the inertness of its extractives, while the poste- 

 rior lobe has been shown by Howell, Schafer and Vincent and 

 others, to contain very active constituents. The only course to 

 pursue, in view of these facts, is to consider that both lobes are 

 active, either jointly, in carrying out a single function, or 

 singly, each having a separate role in the organism. 



The final conclusions to which Andriezen arrives, read in 

 the light of the functions which, to us, seem to be those of 

 the adrenals, strikingly confirm the existence of a physiological 

 relationship between the pituitary and the latter. To give the 

 author's remarks their full value, they are quoted in full: "The 

 main conclusions from the above lines of investigation all point 



49 All italics are our own. 



