THE PITUITARY BODY AND THE THERAPEUTIC VALUE OF THE INFUNDIBULAR EXTRACT IN SHOCK, UTERINE ATONY, AND INTESTINAL PARESIS *

Two years ago I had the honour of reading a paper' before -the Liverpool Medical Institution on the calcium metabolism, with special reference to the ductless glands and the female genital organs; and I then indicated some of the lines on x which our work was being carried i out, and hinted at the results already ( obtained in regard to the pituitary body. An account of the experiments carried out by Dr. Hick and myself up to the end of July, 1908, was published in the BRITISH MEDI. -CAL JOURNAL2 early in this year;and although in these papers it was pointed out in what way clinical mLnnlinat.inna wargY Pnn A;lT hn.vA _ evident that we have no right to regard as rudimentary those portions of man's anatomy which present, when submitted to a very casual naked eye and microscopical examination, if not a higher and more complex formation than is seen in the lower animals, at least one that is of equal development. In connexion with the structure under discussion, I may point out that there is little, if any, development of the posterior portion of the pituitary body in elasmobranchs, whereas it is well developed in the higher manmmals and in man. It was not until 1894 that the wonderful properties of the extract made from the adrenals were described by Oliver and Schafer.8 In 1895 these workers investigated also the physiological effects produced by an extract made from the W^A--;:j zpituitary body, and certain other extracts, such as those made from the spleen and thyroid.4 While A adrenalin sprang into fame, the @ ~ ~pituitary body, which undoubtedly