The Washington times., 1920-04-04

rVYYH1 iS man Wnlte, ptdck, DrOWn
" or yellow skinned? This ageOld
w problem seems TO have been set
tied except in certain minor; details.
Color of the skin is due to substances
which exude from the twin glands or cap
sules above the kidneys, called the supra
renals. This announcement is made by
Professor Arthur Keith. president of the
British Association for the Advancement
of Science. one Of the most celebrated
anthropologists in England, Other scien-
lists have been making researches along
the same line,
It has been observed in several cases
that white persons with disease of the
.suprarenals began to turn black, or. more
.ofeten. yellow: while other colored persons
,,affected by the enlargement Of the supra
renala began to turn white or other shades
different from the race to which they be-
long Hundreds Of observations led TO the
inevitable conclusion that one Of the func-
tions of these glands was to regulate the
color Of the skin.
At the same time 1t has been found that
the development of the various ductless
j glands of the body determines all the
" physical characteristics that distinguish
the racial types of mankind from one an
4, other. While the suprarenaf glands make
the negro, a certain type OF thyroid gland
" produces the characteristic features Of the
!" ,Mongolian. and the pituitary gland fn the
brain produces the strong, regular facial
features of the European white names
lecially the prominent nose and brows. In
support Of this are cases in which Euro
= rpeans without trace of Mongol ancestry
have developed perfectly Mongolian fear
lures simply because they had thyroid dis,
.. ease, while at least one Chinese is said to
g have owed his European features to an
. enlarged pituitary. Upon this point Pro
lessor Keith makes this remarkably inter ,
testing observation: 81. .>'.' A.. -
4" Some years ago there died init the East
End OF London Chinese giant-the sub
feet, we must suppose, of an excessive &C,
. tion of the pituitary gIand-the gland,
regard as playing a predominant part IN
Shaping the face and bodily form of'>tne',
European. The skeleton Of this giant was 7
:, prepared and placed in the museum Of the,
london Hospital Medical College by Colo
:.pel r. J. Openshaw, and any one inspect
n ing this skeleton can see that, althoush,
certain Chinese features are still recog-
nizabie, the nasal region and the snpra'%
Ybrbital ridges Of the face have assumed
The most prominent European tyre" ,.....r
90 Equally remarkable are the many hos
.Hpital cases that prove that the supra
renals determine the color OF the skin.
y Or Thomas Addison. OF Guys Hospital,
" London, found in several cases that a par
- tial destruction Of the suprarenals caused
"A darkening Of the patients skin. This
-,-seems to show that the normally working
a-suprarenals Of the white man cause pig
L. ment cells to be dispersed throughout the
system instead OF being accumulated un-
. der the skin, as in the negro.
- Still more remarkable was a case re-
ported from the Free Hospital, Zanzibar,
. East Africa. Here colored woman pa.
q, ,tient was suffering from, severe kidney
disease. The surgeon, in desperate effort
~, to relieve the sufferer, tranSplanted the
"a suprareuals of a white man who had just
: ybeen killed In an accident.
TIE result was not only an Improvement
I. In the general condition of tho patient
but much more remarkable the negro
; gradually became a yellowish-white The
@oeventual outcome OF this operation is
awaited with the keenest interest bytthe
p, scientific world. .''' .r .. q"
90 While It is certain that the color Of the
,l skin can be changed by disease of the
= suprarenal glands after the sufferer has
a'reaehed maturity, II Is believed that TO
q, effect this by trauspantation the object
of the experiment should be selected while
The Zanzibar case is not regarded as a