THE LIFE AND WORKS OF BROWN-SEQUARD. 695 



was therefore always surrounded at his various residences by a collec- 

 tion of these little animals, and was always ready to show to visiting 

 scientists experiments confirming his assertions. 



Tbe discoveries I have just sketched all relate to the study of the 

 nervous system. If they do not form a single, methodical whole, they 

 at least show an evident dependence and connection with each other. 

 But Brown -Sequard also attacked other problems, some of which have 

 contributed in no small degree to popularize his reputation. I will 

 not speak here of his experiments upon asphyxia, upon red and dark 

 blood, upon the exciting effect of carbonic acid, and the injurious effect 

 of expired air, distinct from those of carbonic acid, etc. These obser- 

 vations were isolated, or nearly so. But we would leave an important 

 gap in the biography of our friend if we did not give some space to 

 his work and ideas concerning internal secretions. 



Among the multiple glandular organs which are found in the human 

 economy, the greater part produce liquids which can flow out through 

 visible channels. The function of the glands is made evident by this 

 means, and that of their secretions is also manifest, at least in a general 

 way. Still, there are some whose use and even existence have remained 

 obscure up to a recent period. Such are the spleen, the suprarenal 

 capsules, the thyroid body, and others that might be mentioned. In 

 1856 Brown Sequard took up the study of these functions. He began 

 with the suprarenal capsules, incited to work in this direction by the 

 existence of certain diseases of origin unexplained, except, indeed, 

 that they coexisted with a lesion of the suprarenal capsules. Brown 

 discovered that the extirpation of these glands in an animal was always 

 followed by the death of the animal. This he attributed to the exist- 

 ence of some internal secretion of these organs, a secretion continually 

 discharged into the blood and necessary for life. But he went no 

 farther at this time, and did not take the subject up again until twenty 

 years later, in 1889. 



This time he tried another gland and examined the physiological 

 action of the testicular fluids, being led by divers reasons to suppose 

 that those fluids contained certain substances which they also dis- 

 charged into the blood and which tended to exalt the power of the 

 nervous system and to keep up the vital energies. He did not hesitate 

 to extract these fluids from the organs of animals and to make upon 

 himself, by means of hypodermic injections, certain trials of them which 

 appeared decisive. He concluded that he had discovered a new thera- 

 peutic method. The subject required delicate manipulation, not only 

 because of the extraordinary precautions required for this kind of inoc- 

 ulations, but of charlatanism, always ready to possess itself of new 

 curative procedures. Brown-Sequard did not cease to protest against 

 the abuse by which his name was made to cover industrial enterprises. 

 But he persisted in the idea and it developed with increasing import- 

 ance, until it now constitutes an entire new method, designated under 



