changes in the cells of distant parts of the body. Through these
HORMONES the secondary sexual characters are produced, including the
many differences in the form and structure of the body which are
the characteristics of the sexes. Only in recent years has science
discovered that these secondary sexual characters are brought about by
the agency of these internal secretions or hormones, passed from
the reproductive glands into the circulating blood. These so-called
secondary characters which are the sign of full and healthy development,
are dependent, science tells us, upon the state of development of the
reproductive organs.
For a clear and illuminating account of the creative and dynamic power
of the endocrine glands, the layman is referred to a recently published
book by Dr. Louis Berman.(2) This authority reveals anew how body and
soul are bound up together in a complex unity. Our spiritual and psychic
difficulties cannot be solved until we have mastered the knowledge of
the wellsprings of our being. "The chemistry of the soul! Magnificent
phrase!" exclaims Dr. Berman. "It's a long, long way to that goal. The
exact formula is as yet far beyond our reach. But we have started upon
the long journey, and we shall get there.
"The internal secretions constitute and determine much of the inherited
powers of the individual and their development. They control physical
and mental growth, and all the metabolic processes of fundamental
importance. They dominate all the vital functions of man during the
three cycles of life. They cooperate in an intimate relationship which
may be compared to an interlocking directorate. A derangement of
their functions, causing an insufficiency of them, an excess, or
an abnormality, upsets the entire equilibrium of the body, with
transforming effects upon the mind and the organs. In short, they
control human nature, and whoever controls them, controls human
nature....
"Blood chemistry of our time is a marvel, undreamed of a generation ago.
Also, these achievements are a perfect example of the accomplished fact
contradicting a prior prediction and criticism. For it was one of the
accepted dogmas of the nineteenth century that the phenomena of living
could never be subjected to accurate quantitative analysis." But the
ethical dogmas of the past, no less than the scientific, may block the
way to true civilization.
Physiologically as well as psychologically the development of the human
bein
|