THE BASIC PHYSIOLOGIC REGULATORS 9 



nervous systems ; also, those people might be free from 

 an infection of any organ or portion of the body. This 

 class of patients usually consists of the chronics who 

 have a long train of symptoms that point to imperfect 

 action of one or more of the vital organs imperfect 

 circulation, difficult respiration, subnormal tempera- 

 ture, high or low blood-pressure, malassimilation, de- 

 fective elimination, nervous prostration, sexual incom- 

 petency and such like. 



The question arises : Why this imperfect actioning 

 or malfunctioning of the vital organs in the absence of 

 any disease per se, and what is the best known treat- 

 ment? The answer to this very important query brings 

 us to the consideration of the subject indicated by the 

 title of this paper: "The Basic Physiologic Regula- 

 tors," or the ductless glands and their secretions, usu- 

 ally known as the internal secretions or hormones. 



I am free to admit that I had been a student of medi- 

 cine for twenty years, and an active practitioner fif- 

 teen, before I had anything like a clear conception of 

 the physiologic role of the endocrine glands, or that 

 dysfunction on the part of one or more of them would 

 unbalance the physiologic poise of the body and thereby 

 cause a state of general ill health. 



It has been repeatedly stated that the human body is 

 a machine. For the sake of comparison, we will admit 

 the truth of this rather materialistic expression and 

 compare the physiologic functions of the endocrine 

 glands to the regulator that controls the actions of a 

 watch. The minute mechanism of a watch may be 

 perfect, not a break nor flaw in any of its wheels, 

 pinions, levers or springs in normal "health." Yet, 

 unless that delicate mechanism known as the regulator 

 is accurately adjusted the watch will not keep perfect 

 time it will run too slow or too fast. So with the 

 human body. Every vital organ may be in perfect 

 health per se, without pathologic lesions, yet, unless the 



