ORGANOTHERAPY AND HORMONOTHERAPY 145 



sonval, Brown-Sequard, as the result of their own observations and the 

 reports of over one thousand physicians, expressed certain conclusions, 

 which may be summarized as follows: Although testicular extract does 

 not possess any direct curative influence, it may, when injected hypo- 

 dermically, cure or ameliorate diseases, organic or functional, of the 

 most varied character, or at least cause their effects to disappear. These 

 effects were attributed by them to two types of action: one, a beneficial 

 action on the nervous system, which reacts favorably on the diseased parts 

 or their functions, the other, depending on the introduction of new material 

 into the blood, bringing about the formation of new cells or other new 

 anatomical material. 



Following the publication of Brown-Sequard's claims, there ensued 

 an epoch in which testicular therapy was employed most extensively and 

 extremely irrationally. Both from clinic and laboratory emanated reports 

 ascribing to testicular extracts most marvelous powers of which at the 

 present time relatively little is accepted. 



After excluding many more or less unfounded conclusions, we may 

 consider that the laboratory evidence is conclusive that the testicle con- 

 tains an internal secretion, which is contained in properly prepared ex- 

 tracts, and which, when administered to a proper subject, can exert a 

 specific effect on the sexual characteristics in certain animals, and by 

 inference probably in others. Evidence of this has been furnished by 

 the observation that the administration of testicular extracts to female 

 chickens and pigeons caused the development of male characteristics, and 

 by the effect of testicular extract on the development of castrated frogs. 

 Zoth (a.) (b) and Pregl have demonstrated another very remarkable effect 

 resulting from the injection of testicular extract. These investigators 

 found that while such injections given daily for one week or daily exercise 

 for the same period brought about no material increase of muscular power, 

 the combination of the daily injections and the daily exercise resulted in a 

 striking augmentation, amounting to as much as 50 per cent of the 

 initial value. 



If one were able to accept all or nearly all of the claims, which have 

 been made by various clinicians for the curative powers of testicular 

 extracts, we would be forced to the conclusion that in it had been found 

 the long sought panacea. 



A large number of these preposterous claims centered in Poehl's 

 spermin, 49 which was considered by its discoverer to be one of the normal 

 protective agents of the body. Brown-Sequard laid great stress on the 

 possession by testicular extract of general tonic powers, and Poehl made a 

 similar claim for spermin, this being due, in his opinion, to its being a 

 powerful positive catalytic agent, i. e., an accelerator of oxidation. It 



49 This substance ( or mixture of substances ) was prepared by Poehl from a number 

 of organs but, according to him, is present in largest amount in the testicle. 



