2 GLANDS IN HEALTH AND DISEASE 



turbance in the brain immediately registers its 

 effect on the rest of the body; so does a breaking- 

 off of communications between the organs of the 

 body. 



Now while we have long been familiar with the 

 functions of the brain, we have not until recently 

 been aware of distinct means of intercommunica- 

 tion between the organs themselves, apart from 

 their connection with the brain. The study of the 

 ductless glands the subject of this book has led 

 to this discovery, and with it the origin of a number 

 of diseases has been made clear. 



Glands. When food is taken into the mouth it 

 is met by a fluid called the saliva. Where does this 

 fluid come from, and what is its function? This 

 fluid, this saliva, is manufactured in factories situ- 

 ated in front of the ears and between the lower 

 jaw and the floor of the mouth. The factories get 

 their raw materials from the blood, and the cells 

 in these factories convert the raw materials into a 

 product which we call saliva. Tubes connecting 

 these factories with the interior of the mouth enable 

 the manufactured fluid to be sent to the mouth. 

 These tubes are spoken of as "ducts." 



Now what is the function of this saliva, the 

 product of cellular activity in these factories or 

 "glands" of the body? It has in reality several 

 functions, but there is one that stands out far above 

 the others: it converts the starch of foods into 



