CHAPTER IV 



THE PITUITARY GLAND 



It seems hardly credible that a piece of tissue 

 weighing one-sixtieth of an ounce, "the size 'of a 

 hazel-nut," and lying at the base of the skull, 

 should, perhaps, be involved in the production of 

 giants on the one hand, and dwarfs on the other; 

 that it, like the thyroid gland, should profoundly 

 influence metabolic and brain functions, growth 

 and life itself; yet such seems to be the case with 

 the pituitary gland (sometimes called "hypophysis 

 cerebri"). The conflicting results that encumber 

 much of the work on this gland and on other 

 ductless glands for that matter are due to the 

 almost insurmountable difficulties that the surgeon 

 encounters in locating and removing the gland, 

 without at the same time bringing about secon- 

 dary reactions that are due to causes other than 

 the removal of the pituitary. Much of what we 

 know we owe to the genius of Harvey Gushing, 

 professor at Harvard. 



The pituitary described. The pituitary body, 

 like the thyroid, consists of two parts, two "lobes," 



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