THE ADRENALS IN CHILDREN'S DISEASES. 633 



Drug and dose being identical, we can only incriminate the 

 protective process, and we are thus led to inquire into the 

 causes that may militate against phagocytosis and against the 

 formation of sufficient alexins to maintain the serum up to its 

 highest degree of efficiency. 



The relationship between the production of leucocytes and 

 adrenal overactivity has already been shown. In disease the 

 symptomatic concordance is such as to eliminate all doubt 

 that the increased blood-oxidation incident upon adrenal over- 

 activity is the underlying factor of leucocytosis, and therefore of 

 phagocytosis. The difference between the effects of similar 

 doses in different individuals has also been referred to; we have 

 seen that "idiosyncrasy," or abnormal sensitiveness to the 

 effects of drugs, is easily explained by the reduced resistance 

 that disease or functional impairment of the adrenal system in- 

 volves. The frequency with which the adrenals are the seat of 

 fatty degeneration has been emphasized by Arnaud and Kol- 

 leston. We have also seen to what extent they react to the 

 effects of drugs, and that any local disorder brings them nearer 

 the stage of insufficiency in proportion as the lesion is pro- 

 found. We may thus not only have varying degrees of sensitive- 

 ness to the effects of drugs, but, for the same reasons, we can 

 also account for the variation in our resistance to disease. Im- 

 pairment of the functions of the adrenal system involves a corre- 

 sponding loss of resistance to the effects of toxics of all kinds, 

 toxins, poisons, venoms, etc., because this system governs the in- 

 tensity of the oxidation processes and, therefore, nutrition. Such 

 being the case, phagocytosis and the production of alexins, when 

 inadequate, but reflect a corresponding impairment of the adrenal 

 system. 



The far-reaching meaning of this relationship between 

 the adrenals and the physiological protective processes soon 

 becomes apparent when the results of the varying degrees of 

 adrenal insufficiency are considered. Most prominent among 

 these is the predilection of children to infectious diseases. If 

 experimental evidence is to be taken as standard, Ehrlich's 

 experiments with ricin, abrin, and robin upon mice, supple- 

 mented by those of Wernicke, Hiinener, and Vaillard, clearly 

 indicate that his conclusion that immunity is not conferred by 



