THE ADRENAL BODIES 95 



" Another essayist, who gives a difference between conglobate 

 and conglomerate glands, has placed the suprarenal glands 

 among the conglobate. In his opinion they are nothing but a 

 continuity of bloodvessels within which, just as in filters, the 

 blood becomes more subtle. ... In these glands, as in all the 

 conglobate glands, no excretory duct exists, because there is 

 no question of the secretion of liquids, but only of making them 

 more subtle." 



In conclusion, Montesquieu announces that the Academy 

 will not award its prize this year, since the object of the offer 

 has not been achieved. He ventures his own opinion that 

 " le hasard fera peut-etre quelque jour ce que tous ses soins 

 n'ont pu faire," and he is polite enough to state ! " Mais ces 

 efforts impuissants sont plutot une preuve de 1'obscurite de la 

 matiere que de la sterilite de ceux qui 1'ont traitee." l 



In attempting to assign a function to the adrenal bodies, it is 

 essential to bear in mind their dual nature. As we shall see 

 later, the adrenal body of the higher animals has been 

 derived from two separate and distinct kinds of tissue in lower 

 vertebrates ; and although there is a more or less gradually 

 increasing tendency for the two tissues to become united as we 

 ascend the scale, yet it is only in mammals that the terms 

 "adrenal cortex" and adrenal medulla" are strictly appro- 

 priate. 



It is essential that, before dealing with the physiology of 

 the adrenals, we should give some account of their comparative 

 anatomy and development. 



B. Comparative Anatomy of the Adrenal Bodies 



1. Introductory 



It is only in the Amniota that we find a definite organ whose 

 parenchyma is divided into two distinct portions, whose 

 cellular constituents are quite different in character from 

 each other. 



In the Anamnia we have the organ represented by a number 

 of small bodies. The Amphibians in some respects occupy an 

 intermediate position. In Pisces and Cyclostomata we find 

 two distinct categories of bodies each consisting of a special 



1 The above account is largely taken from Biedl, 



