THANSACTIONS OF SECTION I. 801 



mitted to point out what is indeed a self-evident statement, that there is no part 

 of the body which does not exert some influence upon the rest. Every single 

 portion of the body is continually taking materials from the blood, and furnishing 

 to the blood other materials which are formed within it, whether we call that 

 portion which performs such functions a gland or not ; and it is quite certain that 

 the removal of any portion of the body would be followed by some permanent 

 alteration in the blood were it not that other similar parts may by increased 

 activity compensate for the alterations which the blood would otherwise undergo 

 from the loss of any one such part. Take the case of a limb. The changes which 

 the blood undergoes in circulating through it affect the body generally through 

 that fluid, for the composition of the blood becomes modified in traversing the 

 limb. And not only is the body affected thus through the medium of the blood, 

 but, by means of the nerves which pass to and from the limbs, the central nervous 

 system is itself affected by the movements and alterations of various kinds which 

 are proceeding in the muscles and other parts, and through the nervous system the 

 whole organism must constantly be influenced from the limb. There is, however, 

 no evidence that the removal of a limb or part of a limb permanently modifies 

 either the condition of the blood or of the nervous system. Nor is such a result to 

 be expected, for in this case there are other parts of the body possessing similar 

 organs and performing similar functions, the increased activity of which may easily 

 compensate for the loss which is sustained through removal of such a part. 



But if we deal with an organ which is not multiple, but unique, and com- 

 pletely remove this from the body, it is easy to see that the case may be very 

 different. This organ, like every other organ of the body, is continually taking 

 from the blood some materials and giving up to it certain other materials. Now 

 it is clear that its removal must make a permanent difference iu the blood, and, 

 since the whole organism is remarkably sensitive to even slight changes in the 

 composition of the circulating fluid, \evy marked results may well follow the 

 removal of such organ. And this is in fact found experimentally to be the case. 



It has long been known that extensive disease of the thyroid gland, a small 

 reddish organ, weighing about one or two ounces, found at the front of the throat, 

 is followed by extensive alterations in the nutrition of the b dy generall}'. The- 

 patient becomes swollen from the overloading of the connective tissues with a 

 mucinous exudation ; the nervous and muscular systems are seriously affected ;; 

 the power of generating heat is greatly modified ; and the final result is, in the 

 first in.stance, the production of a condition of semi-idiocy, ultimately followed, if 

 the disease be extensive, by death. Precisely similar results have been found in 

 animals, and in fact in man as well, to follow the complete removal of this bodj'. 

 Yet the weight of this organ is not more than one sixteen-hundredth part of the 

 whole weight of the body ; and even this figure does not represent the enormous 

 influence which a relatively small organ can exert upon the general nutrition of 

 the body ; for it is found that even if a minute part of the thyroid gland be left 

 whilst the greater part is removed, the symptoms above enumerated do not super- 

 yene. Indeed, certain contradictory results which have been g( t by some observers 

 after removal of the thyroid are explained by the fact that in some individuals 

 there are minute detached particles of thyroid gland lying apart from the main 

 organ ; and that after the latter has been removed these detached particles may 

 sufficiently carry on the function of the organ in relation to the blood and the 

 nervous system to prevent the supervention of the deleterious symptoms which 

 usually occur after its removal. Here is, then, a notable instance of the enormous 

 influence exerted by a 'next to nothing' upon the general organism. 



Another illustration may be given from these ductless gland?. It was noticed 

 in 1849 by a celebrated physician, Dr. Addison, of Guy's Hospital, that certain 

 cases, accompanied by extreme debility, occurring in the human subject were 

 associated with the appearance of peculiar bronzed patches on parts of the skin 

 and mucous membranes; and on post-mortem examination of these cases, which 

 always sooner or later have a fatal termination — and indeed sooner rather than 

 later — he found the symptoms in question to be accompanied by disease and destruc- 

 tion of the supra-renal capsules — small bodies which are placed close to the kidneys, 

 1894. 3 p 



