244 THE DUCTLESS GLANDS 



place, may explain the curious tendency of any hair or "down " 

 upon the face or body of a woman to increase in amount during 

 pregnancy. 



A hypertrophy of the adrenal bodies during pregnancy was 

 noted by Guieysse in the guinea-pig, which enlargement chiefly 

 affected the zona fasciculata. 



It has been stated that removal of the ovaries results in 

 hypertrophy of the adrenal cortex, especially the zona glomer- 

 ulosa. 



It has long been noticed that there is a resemblance between 

 the cells of the adrenal cortex and the interstitial elements of 

 the ovary and testis and those of the corpus luteum. Janosik 

 looked upon all these cells as being very closely related. Pod- 

 vissotzky insisted specially on the resemblance between the 

 cells of the adrenal cortex and those of the corpus luteum. 

 This was further emphasized by Mulon who, from observations 

 on guinea-pigs, goes so far as to speak of the corpus luteum of 

 pregnancy as a temporary cortical adrenal body. 



It seems hopeless at present to attempt any explanation of 

 the precise manner or the essential mechanism of the influence 

 of the adrenal cortex upon the reproductive organs. It is 

 perhaps most in accordance with current views to admit the 

 hypothesis that a certain hormone, or certain hormones are 

 secreted by the adrenal cortex which are passed into the blood- 

 stream and so reach and exert their action upon the reproduc- 

 tive organs. It has been suggested that the adrenal body may 

 act through the mediation of the pituitary, but so far as I am 

 aware, no changes in the latter organ have been observed in 

 any of the cases referred to above. 



Much has been written and many hypotheses have been put 

 forward on the subject of the relationships between the various 

 organs furnishing an internal secretion. Much of this is purely 

 hypothetical, and a great deal remains to be discovered before 

 we can formulate any general statements. (See p. 395.) 



It is possible that the simpler physiological conception of 

 underaction or overaction respectively of the various ductless 

 glands, now used to account for the various pathological states, 

 may have to be supplemented or superseded by a consider- 

 ation of modified or deranged function. 



Recently an attempt has been made to investigate the 

 relations between the adrenal bodies and the reproductive 



