THE LIVING ORGANISM 237 



symptoms and leads ultimately to the death 

 of the patient. It is truly wonderful that 

 the secretion of a tiny gland, the total weight 

 of which does not nearly reach one-thousandth 

 part of the body-weight, should produce such 

 a prodigious effect. The chemical balance 

 in the body is a surpassingly beautiful and 

 delicate creation ; there is room for a religion 

 of science in the wonder and admiration of 

 these things. 



As an additional example of the practical 

 value accruing incidentally from scientific 

 research, it may be mentioned that the active 

 principle of the suprarenal gland, adrenalin, 

 is one of the most valued aids in the surgery 

 of the nose and throat, from its property of 

 stopping bleeding by chemically occluding 

 small arteries in situations where they cannot 

 be reached to be ligatured. 



The thyroids are a pair of glands in the 

 neck situated on each side of the larynx, and 

 of about the same size as the suprarenal s. 

 In the normal condition, they are not obvious, 

 as they only fill up the rounding of the contour 

 on each side of what is popularly known as 

 Adam's apple ; but disease sometimes enlarges 

 them, and produces a goitre. 



If these glands are deficient at birth, growth 

 of the child both in body and mind becomes 



