

GLANDS AS AN INTERLOCKING DIRECTORATE 109 



tion of the interstitial cells, the substance produced by the paired 

 glandlets, situated behind the thyroid, the parathyroids, have a 

 profound influence upon the vegetative apparatus and the vege- 

 tative nervous system. These direct the lime exchanges within 

 the cells of the organisms, including the nerve cells. It has 

 been shown that lime is, relatively, a sedative to cells. It raises 

 the threshold or strength of stimulus necessary to evoke a reac- 

 tion. Removing the parathyroids means removing the lime 

 barrier, for with their deficiency there is a change in, and then 

 an escape, from the blood, of the lime, by way of the kidneys. 

 The result is sometimes an enormous increase in the excitability 

 of all the cells, and especially of the vegetative apparatus. What 

 that means for the individual whose comfort depends upon a 

 stability of the intravisceral tones and pressures may be readily 

 imagined. 



The pancreas likewise acts as a sedative to the vegetative 

 apparatus. In particular, this applies to the sugar mechanism in 

 the liver under the discipline of the check and drive organiza- 

 tion. The adrenal and the pancreas are the direct antagonists 

 in the struggle for control of sugar. Removal of the adrenals 

 will cause a decrease in the amount of sugar in the blood, while 

 removal of the pancreas will produce an increase. Excess of 

 sugar in the blood may thus be concomitant with changes of 

 character considered incorrigible. 



In different locales of the vegetative apparatus, as indeed of 

 the body in general, the directorate seems to be handed over to 

 a committee of control, generally made up of two members work- 

 ing in opposing directions. Such a division of power in the gen- 

 eral directorate is analogous to the small holding corporations 

 which divide functions in, for example, the United States Steel 

 Corporation. The relative ratios of tonus in these smaller 

 internal secretion balances are of the utmost significance as 

 causes of differences in the vegetative apparatus, which are the 

 basis of differences in structure, power, and character between 

 individuals. 



The General Laws of the Directorate 



Our knowledge of the glands of internal secretions as an inter- 

 locking directorate presiding over all the functions of the organ- 

 ism is still exceedingly meagre. As yet, we seem to be knocking 

 at the portals of the chemistry of the imponderable. There are 



