The Relations between the Endo- 



crin Organs and the Autonomic 



Nervous System 



FRANCIS M. POTTENGER 



MONROVIA 



Introduction 



Hormone Control of Bodily Functions. The close relationship which 

 exists between the glands of internal secretion and the vegetative nervous 

 system may be inferred from . their developmental history. Primitive 

 forms of life are without nervous systems, and whatever response to stim- 

 uli and whatever correlation of action takes place in them does so through 

 chemical action. Later in the stage of evolution, as the organism becomes 

 more complex, a more accurate and more rapid coordination is required. 

 For this, in addition to the chemical control, a nervous system is de- 

 veloped. In the higher forms of life, then, we have this double reciprocal 

 control of all involuntary or vegetative functions. Stimulation of the 

 glands of internal secretion takes place through the vegetative nerves, and 

 the hormones produced by the glands in turn stimulate vegetative nerve 

 structures. Langdon Brown (1920), in discussing the relationship be- 

 tween the adrenals, thyroid, and pituitary on the one hand and the 

 sympathetic nervous system on the other, says: "This association is recip- 

 rocal as not only does the sympathetic nervous system stimulate the 

 secretion of these ductless glands, but their secretion increases in turn the 

 sympathetic response. Thus, the sympathetic nervous system, the endo- 

 crin glands, and the gonads form a basic tripod, entrusted with the duty 

 both of the preservation of the individual and the continuity of the species. 

 Their relationship is shown in disease as well as in health, and is reflected 

 in many of the neuroses and psychoses." 



Extensive Scope of Endocrin and Autonomic Influences. The impor- 

 tance of these two subjects can be fully appreciated only when the fact is 

 grasped that every normal action expressed in the unstriated musculature 

 of the body, the heart, and the secreting glands, must be brought about in 

 response to stimulation by the chemical substances secreted by the glands 

 of internal secretion or by the vegetative nerves. There cannot be a 



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