of which had not been previously recognized. With
the loss of the function of these glands by disease,
the body was deprived of something formed by them
which was essential to its proper working. Then,
in the last third of the century, came in rapid succession
the demonstration of the relations of the pancreas
to diabetes, of the vital importance of the thyroid
gland and of the pituitary body. Perhaps no more
striking illustration of the value of experimental
medicine has ever been given than that afforded by
the studies upon those glands.
The thyroid body, situated in the neck and the enlargement
of which is called goitre, secretes substances which
pass into the blood, and which are necessary for the
growth of the body in childhood, for the development
of the mind and for the nutrition of the tissues of
the skin. If, following an infectious disease,
a child has wasting of this gland, or if, living in
a certain district, it has a large goitre, normal
development does not take place, and the child does
not grow in mind or body and becomes what is called
a cretin. More than this—if in adult
life the gland is completely removed, or if it wastes,
a somewhat similar condition is produced, and the
patient in time loses his mental powers and becomes
fat and flabby—myxedematous. It has
been shown experimentally in various ways that the
necessary elements of the secretion can be furnished
by feeding with the gland or its extracts, and that
the cretinoid or myxedematous conditions could thus
be cured or prevented.
Experimental work has also demonstrated the functions
of the suprarenal glands and explained the symptoms
of Addison’s disease, and chemists have even
succeeded in making synthetically the active principle
adrenalin.
There is perhaps no more fascinating story in the
history of science than that of the discovery of these
so-called ductless glands. Part of its special
interest is due to the fact that clinicians, surgeons,
experimental physiologists, pathologists and chemists
have all combined in splendid teamwork to win the
victory. No such miracles have ever before been
wrought by physicians as those which we see in connection
with the internal secretion of the thyroid gland.
The myth of bringing the dead back to life has been
associated with the names of many great healers since
the incident of Empedocles and Pantheia, but nowadays
the dead in mind and the deformed in body may be restored
by the touch of the magic wand of science. The
study of the interaction of these internal secretions,
their influence upon development, upon mental process
and upon disorders of metabolism is likely to prove
in the future of a benefit scarcely less remarkable
than that which we have traced in the infectious diseases.
CHEMISTRY
Copyrights
The Evolution of Modern Medicine from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.
