IMMUNIZING MEDICATION. 777 



service, but only when the pathogenesis of each form is thor- 

 oughly established. Some cases of acute mania, for instance, 

 may require stimulation of th*e adrenal system, simply because 

 the engorgement of the neurons may find its cause, not in an 

 exogenous poison, but in accumulation of physiological toxics, 

 which, as is the case in epilepsy, tetanus, etc., give rise to sud- 

 den exacerbations of adrenal activity: i.e., to explosions of 

 functional activity calculated to rid the organism of the mor- 

 bific agencies by L process of active combustion. 



Another feature which must not be overlooked in mental 

 disorders is the influence exerted upon them of fluctuations in 

 the functional activity of the posterior pituitary body. As the 

 sensorium commune, it necessarily takes part in all emotional 

 states. Indeed, hysteria appears to us to be essentially a dis- 

 order of the posterior pituitary body. This organ, as may 

 readily be surmised, is likewise the seat of perturbations at- 

 tended by a distinct line of symptoms. Influenza, hay fever, 

 neurasthenia, neuralgia, and several other obscure neuroses are 

 all, in fact, syndromes in which the posterior pituitary body 

 plays a leading part. In diseases of the heart, vascular system, 

 digestive apparatus arid skin, this organ necessarily takes part in 

 the production of the phenomena witnessed, owing to its iden- 

 tity as the general center of vagus. 



Syphilis. Although the influence of the posterior pituitary 

 body in all these processes has necessitated a special line of 

 analysis that will be submitted in another volume, we may here 

 refer to the fact that simultaneous impairment of the functions 

 of both the anterior and posterior pituitary bodies accounts for 

 the ravages of syphilis. Indeed, we have seen that these two 

 organs are the governing centers of all vital processes; it is 

 these, therefore, that this fell disease undermines. That such 

 is the case is not only suggested by the inquiry to which we 

 refer; it is also revealed by the character of the agency which 

 best overcomes its more advanced stages: i.e., the medicinal 

 prototype of Nature's own adrenal stimulant: iodine, but so 

 combined with a normal constituent of the blood-stream, potas- 

 sium or sodium, as to further assist the vis medicatrix natures 

 itself. 



Indeed, if our views are sound, the adrenal system is the 



