XX 



HORMONES AND HEREDITY 



tion of the structural adaptations which enable man 

 to maintain the erect position on the two hind-limbs. 

 He does not consider the action of external stimula- 

 tion, whether the direct action on epidermal or other 

 external structures or the indirect action through 

 stimulation of functional activity. All his examples 

 of external agents are toxins produced by bacteria 

 invading the body, except in the case of gout, for 

 which he suggests no external cause at all. 



Only once in the last part of the paper considered 

 does Adami mention internal secretions. His actual 

 words are : c We recognise yearly more and more the 

 existence of auto-intoxications, of disturbed states 

 of the constitution due to disturbances in glandular 

 activity or to excess of certain internal secretions or 

 of the substances ordinarily neutralised by the same.' 

 The only example he gives is that of gout. How 

 remote this is from the discoveries concerning the 

 specific action of hormones on the growth of the body 

 or of special parts of the body, or on the function of 

 glands, and from a definite hormone theory of 

 heredity as proposed by myself, is sufficiently 

 obvious. 



