OVARIAN INSUFFICIENCY 179 



general infections ; and lesions in the other organs of General 

 internal secretion may result from general infections, causing 

 This is confirmed by our own experimental invest i- ovarian 



• • insufficiency. 



gat ions 1 . 



It may be asked how we can recognize that it is the Relation 



ovarian function which is in abeyance, and not merely insufficiency 



the process of menstruation. There are several indica- and ovarian 



, . . menstrua- 



tions which assist us to come to a conclusion. On the tion. 



one hand, when menstruation is in abeyance owing to 

 general or constitutional disturbances sterility coexists, 

 proving that the ovary is at least quiescent in respect of 

 its normal functions. Whereas, on the other hand, 

 in the absence of menstruation during lactation concep- 

 tion may and does occur. 



The ovary, as has been mentioned, is concerned in 

 causing the excretion of the excess of substances required 

 by the mother in the absence of pregnancy, and a 

 physiological readjustment occurs when the individual 

 demands of the mother are such that she requires the 

 very substances that are normally excreted in the 

 menstrual discharge and other excretions ; in these 

 circumstances the functions of the ovary are inhibited. 

 It would indeed be interesting if we could trace the 

 processes that lead to this inhibition. 



Hormones 2 may be either stimulative or inhibitory ; Hormones 

 and they may be simple chemical substances, such as ^ct^nin 

 the respiratory hormone C0 2 , or complicated organic regard to 

 products of unknown composition, such as secretin — activity. 

 facts which throw light on the metabolism of the body 

 and simplify such considerations as those we have 

 in hand. 



Since, then, the whole body — every cell in it — works 

 in organic harmony, it is easy to realize that the con- 

 trolling link in the reproductive processes — the ovary — 



1 Brown, T., E. E. Glynn, and W. Blair Bell. (Unpublished.) 



2 The term 'hormone', introduced by Starling, means, literally, a 

 substance that arouses, or excites ; but it is convenient to apply the 

 term to substances that alter an existing state — that arouse to action, 

 suppress action or divert action. 



