68 THE GLANDS REGULATING PERSONALITY 

 Thyroid and Pituitary 



The thyroid and the pituitary have often been compared. The 

 anterior gland and the thyroid arise from almost the same spot 

 in the embryonic oesophagus, the thyroid being an outgrowth 

 in front, the anterior pituitary an outgrowth behind of the same 

 soil. They both control growth marvelously, also the differentia- 

 tion, the mass and intricacy of the tissues. But they differ in the 

 site of their control. The thyroid bears more directly upon the 

 inner and outer coverings of the body, the skin, the skin glands 

 and the hair, the mucous membranes, and the irritability and the 

 preparedness for response of the nerves. The pituitary acts more 

 upon the framework of the body, the skeleton and the mechan- 

 ical supports and movers. Bone and ligament, muscle and tendon 

 seem to be within its immediate sway. The secretion or secre- 

 tions of the pituitary diffuse directly into the fluid bathing the 

 nervous system, supplying beneficent stimulants and aiding in 

 the abstraction of harmful waste. So while the thyroid raises the 

 energy level of the brain, and the whole nervous system, as a by- 

 product of its general awakening effect upon all the cells of the 

 body, the pituitary probably stimulates the brain cells more 

 directly, perhaps in the manner of caffeine or cocaine. 



The difference between the thyroid and the pituitary might be 

 put this way: that while the thyroid increases energy evolution 

 and so makes available a greater supply of crude energy, by 

 speeding up cellular processes, the pituitary assists in energy 

 transformation, in energy expenditure and conversion, especially 

 of the brain, and of the sexual system. In short, the thyroid 

 facilitates energy production, the pituitary its consumption. The 

 pituitary appears therefore as the gland of continued effort. 

 Hence fatigability, an inability to maintain effort, is one of the 

 prominent complaints when there is destruction or an insufficiency 

 of it for one reason or another. As such, it contrasts with the 

 glands of emergency effort, known as the adrenals. 



