THE ADRENAL GLANDS 71 



elusion that the gland and the pigment of the skin 

 are related. In a modified form, this view of 

 Cassan's was recently brought forward at the 

 International Congress of Eugenics. Meckel, an- 

 other observer, noticed a similar enlargement of 

 the gland in the Negro, but he decided that the rela- 

 tionship did not rest with the pigment of the skin, 

 but rather with the genital organs. 



Little was known with regard to the function of 

 the adrenals until 1849, when Thomas Addison, 

 physician at Guy's Hospital, London, made the 

 observation that a disease characterized by bronz- 

 ing or pigmentation of the skin, was invariably 

 accompanied by the decay of the adrenal glands. 

 This observation of the English physician led to 

 little new work, however; and it was only as late 

 as 1894 that a further impetus was given to the 

 entire subject by Professor Schafer's discovery 

 that the injection into the body of an adrenal ex- 

 tract increased the blood pressure. 



Removal of the gland. Complete removal of the 

 gland in animals is followed by death within a few 

 days, though the first day or two after the opera- 

 tion may fail to show any abnormality or disease. 

 Partial removal is not as a rule fatal, though vari- 

 ous symptoms may make their appearance. The 

 administration of adrenal extract has little or no 

 effect. Even in the case of Addison's disease, which 

 we have reason to believe is due to a decreased se- 



