PHYSIOLOGY, CHEMISTKY AND PATHOLOGY IT 



controls gained an average of 3.43 kg., the ten who gained averaged 

 4.8 kg. 



Goddard in 1917, reporting upon the final results of pineal feedings 

 of this same group, concluded that ultimately the entire findings must be 

 considered as negative. 



Although, shortly after the institution of feedings there are measur- 

 able indications of mental stimulations in some instances, these do not 

 further develop with continued treatment. It is not believed that any of 

 the studies made afford evidence of a therapeutic value of pineal feeding. 



Influence of Pineal Extracts on Rate of Division of Unicellular Or- 

 ganisms. As pointed out by McCord (c) in 1917, all feeding experiments 



Fig. 4. A diagram showing influence of pineal extracts in accelerating the 

 division rate of paramecia. Diagram represents the average of thirty-six experiments. 

 Full description in text. (After McCord, Trans. Amer. Gyn. Society.) 



with such unstandardized animals as guinea pigs, chickens, dogs, cats, etc., 

 are open to objection in that normally such subjects exhibit very appreci- 

 able individual variations. To obviate this error McCord investigated the 

 action of pineal extracts upon less complex life forms that show scant 

 individual variations and are obtainable in large numbers. For this pur- 

 pose was chosen the Paramecium caudatum, a unicellular organism that 

 may divide into many generations in a single day. 



Cultures were maintained in the laboratory, growing on hay infusions. 

 These organisms are about J mm. in length and may readily be counted 

 with the naked eye. Reproduction is accomplished through transverse 

 splitting. Under standardized conditions the rate of division is relatively 

 constant. It was assumed that, in the event of constant exceptional varia- 

 tions in the number of generations formed when pineal materials were 

 added to the culture medium, and not occurring when other similar pro- 

 tein materials were introduced, that the phenomenon would be attributable 



