PHYSIOLOGY, CHEMISTKY AND PATHOLOGY 571 



transplanted into young male guinea pigs, the mammary gland develops 

 and may secrete milk. He believes that the interstitial cells are responsible 

 for this effect. We have also seen (p. 555) that Louise Mcllroy (d), after 

 ovarian transplantation, found that the interstitial cells persist much 

 longer than the follicles, and they appear to control the nutrition of the 

 uterus, since atrophy of this organ occurs when these cells are degenerated 

 and no atrophy when they are present. 



Among recent writers the above view has been most ably presented 

 by Athias. He recognizes fully the difficulty presented by the alleged 

 absence of the interstitial cells in many species of mammals, but he ap- 

 pears to think that, if a sufficiently diligent search be made, some traces 

 of them may always be found. The majority of workers on this subject 

 are not hopeful that this will be found to be the true solution. We 

 must rather assume provisionally that there are some peculiarities (pre- 

 sumably connected with the sexual cycle) in those species which possess 

 the interstitial cells, which demand their activity especially during preg- 

 nancy and lactation. 



Some General Considerations in Regard to the Relation 



between the Internal Secretions and the 



Female Reproductive Functions 



Some authors have insisted that the ovaries are not the only organs 

 which determine the secondary sex characters. Thus, Blair Bell (&) lays 

 great stress on the fact that "femininity" is dependent on all the internal 

 secretions. The relation of the thyroid to the female genital system is 

 dealt with in another chapter of the present work. The influence of 

 the adrenal cortex is treated by the present writer in a paper which 

 appeared in 1917. There is apparently no direct relationship between the 

 parathyroids and the female sex organs (Pool). The pineal is alleged 

 to have an influence on sexual precocity (Kidd). The pituitary has 

 an influence on many of the metabolic functions necessary for the estab- 

 lishment of puberty (Blair Bell). Paton (a) found that thymectomy, per- 

 formed before puberty, causes a rapid development of the genital gland. 

 The whole subject is complicated by the influence of the various internally 

 secreting organs upon each other. The psychological peculiarities of 

 women are of course partly accidental and dependent on social conditions, 

 but of those which are more fundamental, some depend on the influence of 

 the ovary and others on general metabolic processes, which are largely 

 conditioned by the general reactions of the internally secreting glands. . 



Robinson believes that it is a secretion produced by the ovarian fol- 

 licles which is responsible for the estrus. The view has not received 

 general acceptance. 



