RT Journal
T1 THe pineal body
JF Journal of the American Medical Association
JO Journal of the American Medical Association
YR 1929
FD February 16
VO 92
IS 7
SP 561
OP 562
DO 10.1001/jama.1929.02700330045014
UL http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/jama.1929.02700330045014
AB The little organ known as the pineal body has attracted medical attention since the earliest times. Apparently, Descartes considered it as having some important relationship to the activity of the soul. The endocrinologists, realizing the apparent absence of exact knowledge regarding the functions of this tissue, have permitted themselves to revel in the realm of fancy, so that the fairy tales of Andersen and of the brothers Grimm seem as accurate as columns of statistics, when compared with modern endocrinologic notions. Recently, Jelliffe1 reviewed the literature from 1921 to 1927 relative to the pineal body. Apparently, more than 100 periodical contributions appeared during this time, as well as numerous references to the pineal body in books and in systems of medicine.Direct connection of the pineal body with the nervous system has been established, as well as with the blood vessels of the choroid plexus. The fundamental studies of