The Caldwell watchman. (Columbia, La.) 1885-1946, 1915-02-05
INTERNAL SEcRETlONS.

We find running all through the hi
tory of the development Of the theor
OF combating disease a slowly evol'
ing chain Of ideas revolving arOun
the primitive belief of the savage tina
eating the heart Of his victim impart
ed to him the courage and vitality o
his enemy.
This idea has given rise from time
to time TO various methods of organ
otheraphy, all Of which have failed t
be effective, but which have been valu
able because they have served as steps
toward a conception of the idea that
certain glandular organs give rise to
chemical products which on entering
the circulation influence the activity
OF one or more other organs. The term
internal secretions" is used to desig.
nate these products.
Claude Bernard appears to have
been the first to employ this term to
distinguish between the ordinary or
external secretions and these internal
secretions. The belief that the secre.
tory products were given off In this
way had long been held in reference to
the ductless glands, and this belief
was perfectly logical because the ab.
sence of any duct naturally suggested
such a possibility; but there was prac-
tcally no interest in the matter of
the internal secretions until reports of
The work Of Brown-Sequard upon ties.
lcular extracts were published prior
10 1890. This investigator assumed
nat all tissues give off something to
he blood which is characteristic and
s OF Importance in general nutrition /
The idea was taken up widely and 1t
led to strong revival of the old no.
tons regarding the treatment of dis. !
eases of the different organs by ex,
.racts of the corresponding tissues,
out no extract was found to be of any
advantage in treating the troubles OF
he organs from which they were
made
Obviously, vital elements can be ex.
'ected to flow only from live-that is
% say, from neutrality-suspicious..
t is not reasonable to expect more
han temporary results from the non,
living. However, while Brown-Se.
yards idea was not found to be
justified by subsequent work, 1t led
o investigation and the development
If the methods necessary to demon.
tate that not only the ductless glands
'ut some of the typical glands pro.
'lded with ducts for external secre
ions give rise also to internal secre.
Ions. the pancreas and the liver being
in point.
We have in our bodies ten or o |
lozen ductless glands which, as in.
'estigations have demonstrated, play l
part OF enormous importance in our
General nutrition
Inc principal ductless glands are a
10 thyroid. parathyroid, suprarenal /
nymus' pituitary, pineal, carotid and c
ocygeal. In some Of these the exist. =,
nee or the non.existence of an in.
ernal secretion is still an open onas. [
on but it is quite safe to assume
iat' masmuch as nothing can come |,
'to oelng without reason and that
otnlng can continue to exist without
reason broader and deeper knowl
ise Vi tne process of digestion and
our metabolism In general will a.
'monstrate these supposedly useless p
sans 10 be endowed with some yery 81
lportant function. The promiscuous c;
moVal of useless" organs is less
heral than 1t was and must become tt
IS and less as knowledge increases di
outside the ductless glands the idea tt
internal sections has recently found tn
ii'lui application in the study of the tn
5estlve secretions, and It has beon va
'ariy demonstrated that the gastric m
u the pancreatic "secretions," and in
maps other secretions from lower la
"n in the digestive tract must no tn
'arded as examples of internal secra to
ns' and that they must be reckoned
IN In our efforts to secure an under co
nc OF the rapidly increasing NOR. err
l'y resulting from those diseases pc
to deranged metabc' ism. tn,
Chemical products of this h,r = att
len stimulate the activity Of sns' bo
organs Sterling has designated - op
,mones, from the Greek wore which SIX
ans l excite" and he suggests ac
i these chemical products NAV q, hs ful
aroea d as the original or primitive mi
ans ior co-ordinating the function. me
of the various parts of a comn,ar loo
anlsm In other words, we are
' Il, by what may be ca,,a ,s
l'a nerves acting through our hloou
wn on os as well as by the better tina
w" ,e coordination secured throush wit
medium of the later davo, ouen are
wonderfully complex ne v.Upea car
EN- which we are able to diss au. Tie
and fOllow IN a.. N'osoCt