The early work of Funk and Douglas, which showed that various _glands of internal secretion_ diminish in size and undergo degenerative changes when the diet is vitamine-free, the newer work of McCarrison and of Dutcher to the same effect, clearly point to an intimate relationship between some of the endocrine glands and the vitamines. As regards scurvy, the only work is that of Rondoni, McCarrison and of LaMer and Campbell on the adrenal glands, which were found by all to be enlarged in guinea-pigs suffering from this disorder. These investigations must be regarded as tentative rather than conclusive until confirmed by similar necropsy reports in man. In this connection it should be noted that thyroid, parathyroid or suprarenal extract is of no avail in the treatment of scurvy. This failure may, however, be explained by the fact that the normal balance of glandular activity was not established. We must bear in mind, however, that although the vitamines may influence the secretion of the glands of internal secretion, this explanation does not satisfactorily account for the symptoms of the "deficiency diseases." These disorders do not in the slightest respect resemble the clinical pictures which we are accustomed to associate with a lack of activity of the glands of internal secretion. If the polyneuritis of beriberi and the hemorrhages of scurvy are attributable to a diminished secretion of the endocrine glands, then it will be necessary to revise present conceptions of their physiologic functions. =The Fate of the Vitamine in the Body.=--One of the most important questions in relation to the antiscorbutic vitamine, quite apart from its chemical nature, physiologic function, and its source, is its fate in the human body after it has reached the alimentary canal or been carried to the tissues. It can be readily appreciated that our knowledge of this aspect is very meagre. We shall endeavor, however, to detail what little is known of this subject, conscious of the fact that investigations of the next few years may contradict our present viewpoints. Most of the constituents necessary for the construction of tissue or for carrying on its functions can be synthesized by the animal body from the basal foodstuffs. It has been ascertained within the past decade that certain constituents--for example, some amino-acids of the protein molecule--are building-stones which cannot be primarily elaborated by the cells, but must be supplied by the food. At present the vitamines--including the antiscorbutic vitamine--are included in this new and essential group of substances which the human organism cannot manufacture. Animal experiments seem to bear out this conception of the vitamine whether we regard them as dynamic or as indispensable tissue elements in the structural sense.