XXII 



THE ESSENTIAL DUCTLESS GLANDS 

 BY M. J. KONIKOW, M.D., Boston, Mass. 



In the whole realm of medicine, there is hardly a 

 more fascinating branch, one that is more interesting 

 as to scientific facts, and more important as to its rela- 

 tion to physiological and pathological conditions, than 

 endocrinology that branch of medicine that treats 

 with the so-called "ductless glands." Young in years, 

 hardly half a century old, this branch of medicine 

 boasts of a literature that, in its quantity and quality, 

 surpasses the literature upon any other subject in 

 medicine that has been taken up during a similar pe- 

 riod. The enormity of the literature upon this subject 

 can be grasped from the fact that, in the second edition 

 of BiedPs "Innere Secretion," published in 1913, the 

 bibliography alone occupies over 250 large octavo pages. 

 Swale Vincent, in his book on "Internal Secretions and 

 the Ductless Glands," cites over 2,000 titles upon the 

 same subject; while Sajous, in his latest edition of "In- 

 ternal Secretions and Principles of Medicine," brings 

 forth almost 8,000 titles. "Endocrinology," a bi- 

 monthly periodical, reviews hundreds of titles in each 

 of its issues. Such is the wealth of literature ; such is 

 the outpour of endocrinological thought in the recent 

 decades ! 



And yet, when one considers the most wonderful facts 

 brought out within our generation in connection with 

 some of these miniature organs ; when one is confronted 

 with proof of their powerful influence upon all phases 



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