42 THE SEX-COMPLEX 



EFFECTS OF OOPHORECTOMY ON THE PITUITARY 



The close relationship between the pituitary body 

 and the genital system has long been recognized, and I 

 have made a number of observations concerning the effect 

 of the removal of the ovaries on this intracranial organ, 

 and vice versa. 

 interpreta- The interpretation of the first mentioned of these 



in the leslons observations necessitates the formulation of definite 

 pituitary. ideas as to what the changes observed in the pituitary 

 mean. We read of ' hyperplasia ', or of ' increased 

 activity ' of the anterior lobe, which can convey little 

 meaning to anyone until we have decided what are the 

 appearances associated with increased activity and the 

 reverse in the pituitary body. So far, tentative views 

 only have been put forward, and no very decided state- 

 ments have been made concerning this complex and 

 interesting organ. 



The pituitary consists of three parts — the pars 

 anterior, the pars intermedia, and the pars nervosa. 

 To each of these various portions, or perhaps more 

 especially to the pars anterior, and to the pars posterior — 

 which comprises the pars intermedia and pars nervosa — 

 have been assigned different functions, concerning which 

 investigators are still very much in disagreement. 



Thus, we find that Harvey Cushing arrived at the 

 definite conclusion, as the result of the experiments of 

 himself and his fellow- workers 1 , that the anterior portion 

 was largely concerned in the well-being of the genital 

 organs, and in the metabolism of the carbohydrates and 

 of the bony skeleton. As the result of some clinical 

 observations he completely changed his opinion, and now 

 asserts 2 that it is the posterior lobe which is responsible 

 for the integrity of the genitalia, and for the carbohydrate 



1 Crowe, S. J., H. Cushing, and J. Homans, Bull. Johns Hopk. 

 Hosp., 1910, vol. xxi, p. 127. 



2 Cushing, H., The Pituitary Body and Its Disorders, 1912. 



