CHAPTER V 



THE ADRENAL GLANDS 



These glands consist of two small bodies situated 

 near the kidney (hence "adrenal"), each weighing 

 about one-seventh of an ounce. Sometimes they 

 are called "suprarenal bodies," to indicate that 

 they are found above the kidney. Sometimes they 

 are referred to as part of the "chromaffin system," 

 to indicate that their cells are colored brown with 

 chromic acid. 



There are really two very distinct parts to the 

 adrenal gland : the "medullary matter," a marrow- 

 like body, in which is found the hormone adrena- 

 line (also known as epinephrine and suprarenine), 

 and the outer organ, the "cortex," which also se- 

 cretes a vitally necessary substance that so far, 

 however, has baffled isolation. 



History. Eustachius, the great anatomist of the 

 sixteenth century, may be regarded as the discov- 

 erer of the adrenal glands. As early as 1789 

 Cassan made the observation that the adrenals of 

 the Negro are larger than those of the European, 

 from which he drew the somewhat far-fetched con- 



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