74 THE INTERNAL SECRETIONS 1920 



practitioner. Let's see. We had cases of neurasthenia, 

 eczema, asthma, epilepsy, nausea of pregnancy, mor- 

 phinism, arteriosclerosis, lymphatism and hypothyroid- 

 ism. What doctor has not met similar cases in his own 

 practice? There is nothing unusual or startling about 

 them. However, it must be admitted that these are 

 among the most difficult cases encountered by the gen- 

 eral practitioner. They present many occasions for 

 stumbling. All of these cases previously had received 

 other treatment at my hands and by other physicians ; 

 but pluriglandular therapy proved to be the most suc- 

 cessful means of dealing with these varied conditions. 



It may be contended that more simple medication in 

 some of these cases would have proved equally suc- 

 cessful. This contention seems scarcely logical in the 

 light of these four facts : 



1. The body is a complex mechanism. The state we 

 call health consists of a multitude of delicate physiologi- 

 cal adjustments. There is no anatomist or histologist 

 or physiologist or psychologist of any repute who would 

 not freely admit the complexity of the human body in 

 health. Perhaps a single quotation at this point will 

 answer our purpose. Henry Sewell (2) says: "It can 

 hardly be doubted that the human organism responds 

 to every kinetic energy acting upon it." We can scarce- 

 ly forbear adding this also from Chapman's "Textbook 

 on Physiology" (3) : "When the vast complexity of 

 structure exhibited by the human organization is con- 

 sidered, it becomes evident that any investigation of its 

 function, however extended, if it be confined to man 

 alone, can lead to but very limited results." In other 

 words, the body contains many parts, many organs, 

 many stystems all bound together in a harmonious 

 co-operating, co-ordinating entity. (4) Harmonious co- 

 operation is the law of health. No better example of 

 the co-operation given by the glands of the body can be 

 found than that which takes place in a normal preg- 



