THE EELATIOISTS BETWEEN THE EKDOCKIN ORGANS 1T7 



we yet know the importance to be attached to the presence of this hormone 

 in sugar metabolism. 



The Gonads and the Autonomic System 



Nervous Manifestations Following Castration. It is extremely diffi- 

 cult in the present state of our knowledge to discuss, in an intelligent 

 manner, the relationship between the sex glands and the vegetative sys- 

 tem. Both ovaries and testicles are innervated by sympathetic nerves, and 

 the secretion from the testicles, according to Wheelon (a) (c), is sympathi- 

 cotropic, while that from the ovary seems to be different, as shown by 

 Hoskins and Wheelon. Castration of males caused a lowered irritability 

 of the sympathetic system, whereas spaying of females caused a heightened 

 irritability of the same system. Wheelon and Shipley estimated that cas- 

 tration of males lowered sympathetic irritability by fifty per cent. The 

 internal secretion of the ovary, or at least that of the corpus luteum, is also 

 sympathicotropic, if we may judge from the clinical symptoms which ap- 

 pear preceding the menstrual flow and those at the beginning of pregnancy 

 or after oophorectomy, when the menstrual cycle suddenly ceases, or at the 

 climacteric, when the secretion is gradually withdrawn. During the latter 

 half of the menstrual cycle the secretion from the ovary exerts a marked 

 nervous and psychical influence upon the patient. This influence, as ex- 

 pressed through the vegetative nervous system, seems to be preponderantly 

 that of sympathetic stimulation. The pulse usually increases in rapidity, 

 the blood pressure becomes higher, the temperature is elevated, and a slight 

 neutrophylic hyperleukocytosis is noted. While these symptoms may be 

 evidence of increased sympathetic stimulation, we cannot claim that they 

 are wholly due to direct stimulation of the sympathetic nerves, because 

 this physiologic process makes an impression upon other organs of internal 

 secretion, such as the thyroid, pituitary, and suprarenals, and upon the 

 nervous system as a whole, and, probably most of all, upon the psychical 

 centers. Immediately following the commencement of the flow, a general 

 relaxation of tension takes place. Nervous and psychical irritability dis- 

 appear, the pulse becomes less frequent, the temperature drops, and blood 

 pressure falls. 



Clinical Manifestations of Disturbed Gonadal Endocrin Functions. 

 At the beginning of pregnancy, or during the establishment of the meno- 

 pause, either artificial or natural, we see the opposite picture. The secre- 

 tion from the ovary is suddenly or gradually withdrawn and the body is 

 forced to readjust itself to new conditions. Again, a state of nervous and 

 psychical excitability is experienced (Pottenger, 1917). The picture, 

 however, is different. The symptoms are predominantly those of para- 

 sympathetic stimulation (vegetative) such as nausea, vomiting, spastic 



