The Glands Regulating Personality: A Study of the Glands of Internal Secretion in Relation to the Types of Human NatureBerman, Louis
History
The Glands Regulating Personality: A Study of the Glands of Internal Secretion in Relation to the Types of Human Nature
Berman, Louis
Endocrinology; Personality
The generation after him witnessed the triumph of the cell as the
recognized unit of structure of the tissues, the brick of the organs.
It was soon found that the cells of the more familiar glands, like
the sweat or tear glands, resembled the cells of the more mysterious
structures named the thyroid in the neck, or adrenal in the abdomen,
of which the function was unknown. What had hitherto prevented
classification of the latter as glands was the fact that they
possessed no visible pathways for the removal of their secretion. So
now they were set apart as the _ductless_ glands, the glands without
ducts, as contrasted with the glands normally equipped with ducts.
Since, too, they were observed to have an exceedingly rich supply of
blood, the blood presented itself as the only conceivable mode of
egress for the secretions packed within the cells. So they were also
called the blood or vascular glands.
The names which became most popular were those which represented a
contrast of the glands with the ducts, conveying their secretion to
the exterior, as the glands of EXTERNAL SECRETION and the glands
without the ducts, the secretions of which were kept within the body,
absorbed by the blood and lymph to be used by the other cells, as
the glands of INTERNAL SECRETION. How different these two classes
of glands are may be realized by imagining the existence of great
factories manufacturing food products, which would diffuse through
their walls into the atmosphere, to be absorbed by our bodies.
There are certain terms for the glands of internal secretion which
are used interchangeably. They are spoken of often as the _endocrine_
glands and as the _hormone_ producing glands. Endocrine is most
convenient for it stands for both the gland and its secretion. Hormone
is employed a good deal in the literature of the subject. But it
applies specifically to the internal secretion, and not to the gland.
THE EXPERIMENTAL PIONEER
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