This symposium on internal secretions includes several papers that deal chiefly with the physiologic, the pathologic and the therapeutic effects of endocrine substances. I have been asked to make, by way of introduction, some general remarks on the subject of endocrinology as a whole. A discussion of the topic is timely and should be of value to workers in every branch of medicine. The profession in general is evincing a lively interest in the internal secretions, as is shown by the titles of papers read at medical meetings. An association for the study of the internal secretions already has a large membership, and its special journal, Endocrinology, is widely read.
THE ENDOCRINE ORGANS
Organs of the body that yield to the blood, in addition to the common metabolites resulting from the general life processes of cells, certain specific products that influence distant parts have been designated "endocrine organs," and the