APPLICATIONS AND POSSIBILITIES 271 



how to handle the machinery ourselves. The abdication of Fate 

 can therefore be confidently expected in due time. 



However, we have yet to begin, and we can begin with preven- 

 tion. The theory of Adler, that some organ inferiority is respon- 

 sible for much unhappiness in life has received much advertise- 

 ment in conjunction with the doctrines of the Freudians. It is a 

 theory of little scope when applied to the eyes, ears, heart and so 

 on because only a small minority of the cases are of that kind. 

 But as we have seen, a deficiency of an internal secretion, an 

 endocrine inferiority, reverberates throughout all the cells. Not 

 only the mind, but all of the members of the organism must 

 strain and co-operate to make up for the break in the balance. 



Endocrine inferiority is indeed the most frequent organic in- 

 feriority. And we may explain a number of mental types upon 

 that basis. Thus the inferior gonado-centric, who has something 

 wrong with his reproductive organs, will evolve in one of two 

 directions. If his adrenal and thyroid are of poor quality, he will 

 become the secluded introvert, shut off from the interests of nor- 

 mal life. He will enter the borderland of insanity if pituitary 

 difficulties supervenes. If, on the contrary, the adrenal, thyroid 

 and pituitary are present in a certain proportion, he will be- 

 come the active, aggressive, never-resting, keen, and relentless 

 fanatic reformer. A woman who is gonad deficient with a 

 superior adrenal will suffer from virilism and specialize in the 

 extreme tactics and mythology of the feminist movement. A 

 number of life reactions are classifiable as the strivings of en- 

 docrine inferior individuals to overcome their sense of inferiority. 

 The unconscious vegetative system and the system of conscious- 

 ness are both modified by the weakness of a link in the glandular 

 chain. 



What, therefore, is to be recommended in the prophylaxis of 

 the natural deterioration of the wells of life, the ductless glands? 

 For even if we may be able to replenish them when they dry up, 

 would it not be better to delay their dessication? The hormones 

 reply to every call of life and respond in every reaction. The 

 normal constructive process of their cells remanufactures what 

 has been lost, and the original capacity to respond is restored. 

 If, though, the rate of destruction and loss outruns the rate of 

 repair and construction, they will be permanently damaged. This 

 is what occurs in shock, serious, severe accidents and injuries, 

 prolonged infections and diseases, profound continued emotions, 

 and the wear and tear of overwork. The prevention of these 



