We have now presented in summary much of the mass of experimental and clinical evidence we have accumulated in support of our principal theme, which is that the discharge of nervous energy is accomplished in accordance with the law of phylogenetic association. If this point seems to have been emphasized unduly, it is because we expect to rear upon this foundation a clinical structure. How does this hypothesis apply to surgical operations? Prevention of Shock by the Application of the Principle of Anoci-association Upon this hypothesis a new principle in operative surgery is founded, _i. e_., operation during the state of _anoci-association_. Assuming that no unfavorable effect is produced by the anesthetic and that there is no hemorrhage, the cells of the brain cannot be exhausted in the course of a surgical operation except by fear or by trauma, or by both. Fear may be excluded by narcotics and special management until the patient is rendered unconscious by inhalation anesthesia. Then if, in addition to inhalation anesthesia, the nerve-paths between the brain and the field of operation are blocked with cocain,[*] the patient will be placed in the beneficent state of _anoci-association_, and at the completion of the operation will be as free from shock as at the beginning. In so-called "fair risks" such precautions may not be necessary, but in cases handicapped by infections, by anemia, by previous shock, and by Graves' disease, etc., anoci-association may become vitally important. [*] See footnote, page 4.@@@ Graves' Disease By applying the principle of the discharge of nervous energy by phylogenetic association, and by making the additional hypothesis that in the discharge of nervous energy the thyroid gland is stimulated through the nervous system, we can explain many of the phenomena of Graves' disease and may possibly discover some of the factors which explain both its genesis and its cure.