The Spleen as an Endocrin Organ 



FRANK C. MANN 



ROCHESTER 



Introduction: General Status of the Problem of 

 Splenic Function 



Is the spleen an endocrin organ ? It does not seem possible at the 

 present time to answer the question positively. I shall briefly refer to the 

 data and the various theories on the function of the organ and discuss 

 particularly those phases which might warrant classifying the gland as an 

 endoerin organ. 1 



Few organs of the body have played a more important part in litera- 

 ture than the spleen. References to it are so frequent and so contradictory 

 that fact is separated from fancy with difficulty. From the very earliest 

 times the nature of the organ seems to have been a mystery. It attracted 

 the attention of many of the men working in the natural sciences and 

 many indeed are the illustrious names associated with the history of the 

 development of our knowledge of the organ, frut the little definite 

 knowledge concerning the spleen which we possess has been difficult to 

 procure. Much of the research on the organ has been barren of positive 

 results or has given rise to numerous false theories. No statement with 

 reference to the function of the spleen has ever gone uncontradicted. All 

 this makes it difficult to evaluate the voluminous evidence with regard to 

 the organ as an endocrin gland. 



It is interesting that the same uncertainty attended the meaning of 

 the spleen in poetry as in the scientific consideration of its function. To 

 some poets the spleen stood for mirth, while to others it was used as a 

 synonym for passions, particularly anger (Stukeley, Gray, Black). 



The larger number of the various researches on the spleen have dealt 

 with the effect of splenectomy on various organs or functions of the body. 

 The history of splenectomy has been recorded by different authors (Stuke- 

 ley, Gray, Krumbhaar, Carstens), and a description of its removal in man 

 by Balfour. The spleen was evidently one of the first organs to be re- 



1 Although the dubious position of the spleen in the endocrin congeries is recognized, 

 it seems desirable to present a brief discussion of the evidence, pro and con, of such 

 function. R. G. H. 



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