THE PITUITARY 



Some of the normal physiological changes that occur Functional 

 in the pituitary are well known ; but there is much the^tuiTary. 

 need for a systematic investigation into the age changes 

 in this organ, for up to the present time only a few 

 isolated observations have been recorded. 



There is reason to believe that the secretions of the 

 pituitary determine many of the metabolic functions 

 necessary for the establishment of puberty, or sexual 

 maturity. 



We fully recognize the remarkable enlargement and 

 the histological changes that occur in this gland as the 

 result of pregnancy : the eosinophilia becomes discrete, 

 and a large proportion of all the cells in the pars anterior 

 become chromophobe, constituting the so-called ' preg- 

 nancy cells' 1 . 2 . No doubt this change is brought about 

 by the needs of the maternal metabolism which the 

 development of the foetus entails. 



The investigations which have been carried out Experimental 

 in regard to extirpation of the pituitary, partial or 

 complete, in so far as it is of importance to our subject 

 must now be recapitulated. At the same time it is 

 necessary to state that very little of the experimental 

 work has fulfilled the highest ideals owing to the difficulty 

 of removing completely and separately the different 

 portions of the organ in vivo ; consequently the last 

 word has probably not been said in regard to the results 

 that may be obtained. 



1 Erdheim, J., and E. Stumme, Zeiglefs Beit. z. Pathol. Anat. u. 

 z. Allg., 1909, vol. xlvi, p. 1. 



2 Bell, W. Blair, The Pituitary, 1919. 



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