THE SYMPATHETIC SYSTEM 15 



ism and how difficult it is to deduct an insufficiency or a 

 hyperfunction from functional alterations. The com- 

 plexity of the subject is made more pronounced by the 

 fact that a multiple of causes can cause disturbances in the 

 function of the endocrine glands and cause a multiple of 

 secondary syndromes. 



These facts which I have just enumerated have en- 

 larged our studies of endocrinology. Instead of limiting 

 ourselves to the glands which were first considered as hav- 

 ing only an internal secretion, such as, the thyroid, the 

 pituitary, the adrenals, etc., it has spread to the thymus, 

 to the spleen, the bone marrow which is not a glandular 

 organ, but a blood and lymph forming organ. After all, 

 have not all cells an internal secretion? And has not the 

 adipose cell of connective tissue certain characteristics of a 

 gland of internal secretion? The custom, however, is to 

 limit the study of internal secretion pathology and phys- 

 iology to certain glands and this custom is justifiable. 

 For instance, in spite of the latest investigations on the 

 liver, these have not been included in this volume, nor the 

 relationship between disturbances of bone marrow and 

 certain dystrophies (Hutinel). These do not belong to this 

 subject. The glands which are studied from a functional 

 and pathological point of view belong to a certain group 

 having anatomical and physiological connections with the 

 sympathetic, so that the study of sympathetic and its 

 disturbances follows naturally that of the endocrine glands. 



It is not planned in this work to give the physiological 

 history of these glands or to describe their histology or even 

 to analyze their actions in detail. The aim is simply to 

 describe some of their normal and pathological functions. 

 Some of them have a double secretion, internal and ex- 

 ternal, like the pancreas, the ovary and the testicle. 

 Others have only one secretion, such as, the thyroid, the 



