THE PITUITARY 347 



out of them through the Infundibulum to the Glandula pitui- 

 taria distils not upon the palate but is poured again into the 

 blood and mixed with it." 



Majendie regarded the pituitary as a kind of lymphatic 

 gland, which collects the cerebral lymph and passes it into the 

 circulation. "Its pars anterior does discharge its elaborated 

 products into the circulation, and the pars nervosa apparently 

 contains certain inter-neurogliar spaces resembling lymph 

 channels." 



For a long period, the pituitary body was looked upon as a 

 " vestigial relic," and of no importance in the animal economy. 



The association of Addison's disease with adrenal lesions was 

 the starting point of adrenal physiology, and the connection 

 between myx oedema and thyroid mischief was the beginning of 

 our knowledge of the functions of the thyroid. In the same 

 way, the appearance of Marie's publications (1888-1889) on 

 acromegaly and pituitary tumours, was the chief impetus 

 towards all the modern investigation into the structure and 

 functions of the hypophysis cerebri. 



Of supreme importance in the history of our knowledge of 

 the pituitary, as indeed of all the ductless glands, was the 

 discovery by Oliver and Schafer (1894) of the physiological 

 activity of adrenal extracts. This led directly to the observa- 

 tion by the same authors of the power in raising blood-pressure 

 of extracts made from the pituitary body, and has instigated 

 a vast amount of work depending on the investigation of the 

 action of various tissue extracts upon the body generally and 

 on the different systems. 



D. Physiological Action of Extracts of the Pituitary 



Body 



1. Effects on the Heart and Bloodvessels 

 Oliver and Schafer discovered that aqueous or saline extracts 

 of the pituitary body produce, when injected into the blood- 

 vessels, a rise of blood-pressure, which is comparable to that 

 produced by extracts of the adrenals. The rise is produced 

 by an action on the peripheral arterioles, as is that brought 

 about by adrenal extracts. The action of pituitary extracts, 

 however, is more prolonged than that of adrenal extracts. 



