THE GENERATIVE GLANDS 355 



probable that it has a secondary effect upon mental develop- 

 ment. The destruction of the pineal gland at this stage of exist- 

 ence leads to mental and physical precocity. That there is an 

 antagonism between the activity of the pineal gland and that of 

 the hypophysis is certain, for we know that pituitary insufficiency 

 produces hypogenitalism. 



I have occupied myself for some time with experiments, the 

 main object of which has been to determine the clinical results of 

 pineal suppression. I have succeeded, so far, in extirpating the 

 pineal gland by a method similar to that which I employed in 

 hypophysectomy. As far as my observations go, the pineal gland 

 in the adult animal is a negligible quantity ; my experiments with 

 young animals are not as yet complete. 



THE GENERATIVE GLANDS, 



The generative glands possess chemical interrelationships 

 with a large number of other organs and tissues. The importance 

 of the part which these glands play in the general economy of 

 the organism is shown by a wealth of evidence such as is forth- 

 coming in the case of no other organ. It will be shown in the 

 following pages that, not only are physiological and pathological 

 processes modified by the function of the sexual glands, but that 

 the activity of these organs is associated with the profoundest 

 problems of 'general biology and embryology. 



The first problem is concerned with the sexual characteristics. 

 In almost every class of animal, the type is represented and 

 maintained by two different groups of individuals, which differ 

 more or less widely from one another in habit, anatomical struc- 

 ture, functional activity, and certain other attributes. These 

 groups are defined as the male and female sexes. The question 

 arises as to whether this difference in the organization of the 

 sexes, this dimorphism, as it is called, is the outcome of the differ- 

 ence in the nature of the organs of reproduction. That these 

 organs are described as " sexual " organs is an illustration of 

 the prevailing inclination to regard the stigmata of sex as de- 

 pendent upon the organs of generation. Before the days of 

 anatomy, and the view prevails to-day among primitive peoples 

 (the Russian scopts, according to Pelikan, and the natives of 

 India, according to Roberts), the external genital organs and, in 

 women, the breasts, were regarded as the factors responsible for 

 the characteristics of sex. The Russian scopts believe that women 

 are rendered sterile by the removal of the breasts and the external 

 genitals. Helmont said: " Propter solum uterum mulier est 

 quod est," and this dictum was modified by the French physician 

 Cherau into : " Propter ovarium solum mulier est quod est." 

 Virchow expressed the same view in these words: "Woman is 



