PHAEMACOLOGY OF HYPOPHYSEAL EXTKACTS 763 



calcium and magnesium content of the blood after posterior lobe admin- 

 istration. Aldrich(6) (1912-13) found no changes from the normal in the 

 growth of his rats that had been fed posterior lobe substance. Frey and 

 Kumpiess (1913-14) in a study of the effect of pituitary extracts on 

 urinary output got a constant per cent phosphorus excretion, which when 

 taken with the diuresis produced would tend to show a phcsphaturia. 

 The nitrogen elimination was variable while the uric acid ran parallel 

 to the amount of urine voided. Farini and Ceccaroni(&) (1913) obtained 

 an increased hippuric acid excretion as the result of posterior lobe in- 

 jections and Hewitt (6) (1914) reported that the administration of small 

 amounts of the substance together with 0.25 gram thyroid resulted in 

 an increased ammonia output over that excreted on the thyroid substance 

 alone. Although these experiments (either singly or as a whole) are un- 

 satisfactory in that they fail to give any but a patchwork picture of the 

 metabolic changes induced by the hypophyseal extracts, they do show that 

 the administration of such preparations is not unattended with deep-seated 

 metabolic disturbances. This is particularly true of long-continued ad- 

 ministration as shown by Schafer and Vincent (1899) and Thaon (1907). 

 The metabolic processes concerned in sugar mobilization and utilization 

 are considered by some to be specifically influenced by the posterior lobe. 

 Gushing (1912) and Bell (1919) report the appearance of glycosuria 

 after operations on the pituitary as evidence of a probable influence of 

 the hypophysis on carbohydrate metabolism. Such evidence is not con- 

 vincing when we consider that most operative procedures, and particularly 

 those associated with manipulations at the base of the brain, usually give 

 rise to a more or less extensive sugar excretion. A similar objection 

 applies to the recent work of Keeton and Becht (1919) in which glycosuria 

 was obtained as a result of stimulation of the hypophysis. On the other 

 hand the experiments of Weed, Gushing and Jacobson (1913) have shown 

 that the stimulation of the superior cervical ganglion produces glycosuria 

 in the rabbit, cat or dog, even if all possible downward impulses to the 

 abdominal viscera by way of the vagi, cervical sympathetic trunks or 

 cervical cord are excluded, while if the posterior pituitary has been previ- 

 ously removed the ganglionic stimulation does not result in glycosuria. 

 With regard to the effects of actual injections of posterior lobe extracts 

 Goetsch, Gushing and Jacobson (1911) obtained glycosuria as a result 

 of such procedure and Achard, Eibot and Binet (1919) found that the 

 hyperglycemia induced by intravenous glucose injections was enhanced 

 by the simultaneous injection of posterior lobe extract and that such an 

 extract given alone also cause hyperglycemia. Franchini (1910) also 

 noted the occasional occurrence of glycosuria in rabbits as a result of 

 similar manipulations. Quadri (1914) studied the effect of posterior 

 lobe extracts on alimentary glycosuria and it is a well known clinical 

 fact that an increased sugar tolerance often accompanies hypopituitarism. 



