[26] 



mones (secreted by small, even insignifi- 

 cant-looking structures (which lubricate the 

 wheels of life. For example, remove the 

 thyroid gland just below the Adam's apple, 

 and you deprive man of the lubricants 

 which enable his thought-engines to work 

 — it is as if you cut off the oil-supply of a 

 motor — and gradually the stored acquisi- 

 tions of his mind cease to be available, and 

 within a year he sinks into dementia. The 

 normal processes of the skin cease, the hair 

 falls, the features bloat, and the paragon of 

 animals is transformed into a shapeless 

 caricature of humanity. These essential 

 lubricators, of which a number are now 

 known, are called hormones — you will rec- 

 ognize from its derivation how appropriate 

 is the term. 



Now, the men of your guild secrete ma- 

 terials which do for society at large what 

 the thyroid gland does for the individual. 

 The Humanities are the hormones. Our 



