The ductless glands with their important influence on the growth, development and maintenance of the body, physical and mental, occupy a notable position in the realm of medicine today, yet a few generations ago they were wholly neglected and almost unknown.
About the middle of the last century Claude Bernard, Brown-Séquard and others popularized their use in therapy; but the suggestions offered by them were not followed up, and the value of the work then accomplished was largely forgotten. Langley and Gaskell in England, Beedl in Vienna, and Bouchard in France have in recent years vastly increased our knowledge of the action of these glands. On the facts these observers have discovered, a complete system of therapy has been erected and generalizations regarding their influence in disease have been recklessly enunciated as dogmas. Coincidence became confused with causation.
As clinicians add to our store of facts, the skepticism of the