The Oakley herald. [volume] (Oakley, Idaho) 1908-1961, 1915-03-05
INTERNAL SEcREIIONS,

We find running all through the bis
tory of the development OF the theory
of combating disease a slowly evolv
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 TINE
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 step.
toward conception of the idea thai
certain glandular organs give rise tt
chemical products which on enterinf
| the circulation influence the activity
OF one or more other organs. The tern
internal secretions" is used to desiy
nate these products.
Claude Bernard appears to have
been the first to employ this term tt
distinguish between the ordinary OF
external secretions and these interna
secretions. The belief that the secre
tory products were given OF in thii
way had long been held in reference to
the ductless glands, and this belief
was perfectly logical because the alb
sence Of any duct naturally suggested
such a possibility; but there was prac
tically no interest in the matter OF
the internal secretions until reports OF
the work Of Brown-Sequard upon tes
1ar nytr rto
to 1880. This investigator assumed
that all tissues give off something Ia
the blood which Ia characteristic and
Is Of Importance in general nutrition
The Idea was taken up widely and II
led to strong revival Of the old no
lions regarding the treatment of dis
eases of the different organs by ex
tracts OF the corresponding tissues
but no extract was found to be OF any
advantage In treating the troubles oil
the organs from which they were
made.
Obviously, vital elements can be ex
pected to flow only from live-that IL
to say, from acknowledgement
1t is not reasonable to expect more
than temporary results from the non
living. However, while Brown-Se.
guards idea was not found to be
justified by subsequent work. 1t led
to investigation and the development
of the methods necessary to demon
state that not only the ductless glands
but some of the typical glands pro
vided with ducts for external secre |
tons give rise also to internal secre |
tons, the pancreas and the liver beins !
examples In point.
We have In our bodies ten or
dozen ductless glands which, as In
vestigations have demonstrated. play
a part of enormous Importance In ouI
general nutrition.
The principal ductless glands are
the thyroid. parathyroid, suprarenal
thymus, pituitary, pineal. carotid anc
cocygeaL In some of these the exist
ence or the non-existence of an in
ternal secretion is still an open ques
ton, but 1t is quite safe to assume
that. inasmuch as nothing can CONF
into being without a reason and thai
nothing can continue to exist without
a reason, a broader and deeper knowl
edge OF the process of digestion anc
Of our metabolism In general will
demonstrate these supposedly useless
organs to be endowed with some very
important function. The promiscuou,
removal OF useless" organs is less
general than it was and must become
nd NIL
Outside the ductless glands the idea
Of internal sections has recently foune
fruitful application in the study OF the
digestive secretions, and 1t has beer
clearly demonstrated that the gastric
and the pancreatic "secretions," ane
perhaps other secretions from lower
down in the digestive tract, must be
regarded as examples OF internal secre
tons, and that they must be reckonec
with in our efforts to secure an under
of the rapidly increasing NOR
.ality resulting from those diseases
iue to 1eranged metabc,ism.
Chemical products of this kline
which stimulate the activity OF spe
,ial organs Sterling has designated as
lormones, from the Greek word which
means Il excite" and he suggests
that these chemical products may be
as the original or primitive
means for co-ordinating the function
ng of the various parts OF a compile,
organism In other words. We are
controlled by what may be called
liquid nerves acting through our blooo
circulation as well as by the better
Known coordination secured through
he medium OF the later developed
and wonderfully complex nervous
ystem which we are able to dissec,
tut and follow to its point of origin