upplying beneficent stimulants and aiding in the
abstraction of harmful waste. So while the thyroid raises the energy
level of the brain, and the whole nervous system, as a byproduct of
its general awakening effect upon all the cells of the body, the
pituitary probably stimulates the brain cells more directly, perhaps
in the manner of caffeine or cocaine.

The difference between the thyroid and the pituitary might be put this
way: that while the thyroid increases energy evolution and so makes
available a greater supply of crude energy, by speeding up cellular
processes, the pituitary assists in energy transformation, in energy
expenditure and conversion, especially of the brain, and of the sexual
system. In short, the thyroid facilitates energy production, the
pituitary its consumption. The pituitary appears therefore as the
gland of continued effort. Hence fatigability, an inability to
maintain effort, is one of the prominent complaints when there is
destruction or an insufficiency of it for one reason or another. As
such, it contrasts with the glands of emergency effort, known as the
adrenals.

CHAPTER III

THE ADRENAL GLANDS, THE GONADS, AND THYMUS

Like the pituitary, each adrenal gland is a double gland, that is,
consists of two distinct portions, united together, one might say, by
the accident of birth. It would be confusing, however, to speak of
each as two glands, because there are, as a matter of fact, two
separate adrenal glands, one in the right side of the abdomen, and the
other in the left. Each gland is composite, or duplex. How the two
parts came to be united is a long story, interesting but too long to
be recounted here. In fishes they are apart and independent.

Each adrenal is a cocked hat shaped affair, astride the kidneys,
easily recognized because of its yellowish fatty color. Indeed, for
centuries the glands were not given a separate status as organs, but
were passed up as part of the fat ensheathing the kidney. In childhood
and youth, in common with the other glands, they are relatively larger
and more prominent than in the adult. Also, at every age, the amount
of blood passing through them is very large compared to their size.
Their tremendous importance in the body economy accounts for their
being so favored.

The two parts of which each gland is composed, are known as the cortex
or outer portion (literally the bark) and the medulla or inner portion
(literally the core). No clean