INFLUENCE OF THE DUCTLESS GLANDS ON THE GROWTH 13 



for example, in Basedow's disease. On this account we do not need to as- 

 sume a dysfunction, as a normal secretion, too, given in excess to the body, 

 may poison it. A fitting example is furnished by adrenalin poisoning. On 

 the contrary, I must assume that no sufficient experimental evidence is at 

 hand for the detoxication theory of the disease due to lack of secretions; that 

 is, for the assumption that poisons normally formed in the 1 organism are 

 rendered nonpoisonous in the ductless glands, and that they poison the body 

 when the ductless glands are insufficient. Even the pathogenesis of tetany 

 may be explained without the aid of detoxication theory, as we shall see in 

 the chapter on the subject. 



The great number of works as to the physiology and pathology of the 

 ductless glandular system that have appeared in the last decade show the 

 growing interest that physiologists and clinicians take in this subject. What 

 makes the subject so fascinating is the fact that it allows us to have what up 

 to the present was a scarcely anticipated look into the complicated regulatory 

 mechanism of the animal organism. In many respects this influence is espe- 

 cially true for the influencing of the growth and of the metabolic processes. 

 But also the development and the activity of the hematopoietic apparatus 

 stand under the control "f this ductless glandular system; finally, the most 

 intimate relations exi<- between the ductless glandular system and the 

 nervous system, whereby practically all the somatic and vegetative functions, 

 yes even the mind itself, are brought within the zone of influence. To de- 

 scribe in detail this invasive activity of the ductless glandular system into 

 all the vital processes does not lie within the limits of the task I have set for 

 myself. I shall only sketch a few points in gross. 



Influence of the Ductless Glands on the Growth 



I begin with the influence of the ductless glands upon the growth and the 

 configuration of the body. This influence is apparent and has long been 

 known in eunuchs and through the experience of breeders of animals, al- 

 though exact experimental work in this direction dates only from recent 

 years. It seems to me most suitable for our purposes to select certain better 

 studied types and to sketch them. 



i. Loss or high-grade hypoplasia of the sexual glands at an early age 

 leads to tall growth; the skeleton is built slenderly and shows charac 

 teristic proportions (large lower length, large span width, small head). 

 There is found herewith a characteristic distribution of fat and faulty de- 

 velopment of the secondary sexual characters. The closure of the epiphy- 

 sial junctures, and especially of those which under physiological conditions 

 close the latest, are markedly delayed. This is the foundation of the char- 

 acteristic proportions and the cause of the tall growth. (The assumption of 

 secondary increase in function of the hypophysis, as I shall treat in Chapter 



