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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/77671-0.txt b/77671-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ae2c021 --- /dev/null +++ b/77671-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,734 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 77671 *** + + + + + LITTLE BLUE BOOK NO. 1477 + Edited by E. Haldeman-Julius + + + How Glands Affect + Personality + + Grace Adams + + + HALDEMAN-JULIUS PUBLICATIONS + GIRARD, KANSAS + + + + + Copyright, 1929, + Haldeman-Julius Company + + + PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA + + + + + CONTENTS + + + Page + + What Is Personality? 5 + + Our Knowledge of the Endocrin Glands 9 + + The Nature of Glands 11 + + The Function of the Endocrin Glands 13 + + Glandular Abnormalities 20 + + Glands and Normal Personality 29 + + + + + HOW GLANDS AFFECT PERSONALITY + + + + + WHAT IS PERSONALITY? + + +How do glands affect personality? Before any answer can be given to +that question, before any discussion of the nature of glands can be +undertaken, it is essential to agree upon a working definition of that +currently popular but often rather ambiguous word――personality. What, +precisely, does it mean? + +Alluring advertisements in innumerable gaudy magazines promise, for +a relatively small fee, to “develop your personality.” Even the +pages of otherwise sedate and classical college catalogues boast of +courses in “personality training.” And the term comes up incessantly +in everyday conversation. We hear that a woman is beautiful but that +she lacks personality; or that a man is not brilliant but that he has +a great deal of personality. Such uses of the word undoubtedly fill a +descriptive purpose. Most of us know what it means when it is employed +in this manner. Yet it may be misleading. It implies that personality +is a quality apart from physical and mental traits which some +individuals possess to a high degree and in which others are totally +deficient. + +How can such an elusive attribute be either explained or defined? +It cannot be, of course, but then it does not need to be for it is +impossible to imagine a person without a personality. Every human +being has, of necessity, a personality. It is personality which +distinguishes him from some people and causes him to resemble others. +And into its make-up goes every trait, physical, mental, emotional and +temperamental, which he possesses; his sex, his height, his weight, the +size and character of his features, his emotional stability, his mental +powers, his special abilities. If these characteristics change to any +great extent then his total personality is different. + +Some of these traits, of course, seem more important, more ingrained +in individuality than others. Sex, for example, appears more essential +than weight. A friend often becomes suddenly much stouter or thinner +and yet retains the same character. On the other hand, the whole +personality of the fat lady of the side show depends on her weight, +that of the human skeleton on his weight and height combined, and of +the bearded lady on her abnormal growth of hair. To a lesser degree +such gross physical traits play an important role in the personalities +of more normal individuals. And, speaking very generally, any marked +anatomical variation is apt to be accompanied by finer mental and +temperamental differences. + +In everyday life we casually accept this correlation between physical +and mental characteristics. We somehow unthinkingly divide the +population into definite physiological types and we more or less +expect these physiological types to show certain well marked traits +of personality. In cartoons the reformer, the vice-crusader, is +always portrayed as a tall, stiff, angular individual with a long, +narrow face, a straight nose and tightly pressed lips. Without any +accompanying label we would know that such a character was supposed to +represent an intolerant, self-opinionated bigot. And without consulting +our programs we can usually guess correctly which member of the cast of +a musical comedy is the comedian. If there is an exceptionally plump +person on the stage it is more than likely that it is he who will have +most of the comical lines to repeat, who will be required to take the +awkward tumbles and, in general, be responsible for the audience’s +laughter. For it is customary to expect fat people to be jolly and +amusing. They look as though they should be and we feel disappointed +if they turn out to be morose or dignified or too energetic. And in +the same way we expect the sinister, dark mustachioed gentleman of the +comic strips to be the villain, and the dainty, graceful maiden on the +moving picture screen to be the sweet and guileless heroine. + +These stock characters are, of course, highly conventionalized, but the +convention is a natural, not an artificial one. It is natural to assume +that certain physical types will show certain temperamental traits +because usually they do. Often, however, they do not run true to form. +And the personalities which surprise us by their anomalies are apt to +be the ones which pique our curiosity, which arouse our interest and +for whose individuality we seek an explanation. Yet it would be just as +instructive to find a reason for those who conform to type as for those +who differ; to learn why the thin, wiry, dark Frenchman is volatile, +quick and romantic, while the more stolidly built Scandinavian is +slower, surer, and less excitable. We might, if it were not for the +anomalies we have just noted, expect their respective physiques alone +to account for their temperamental differences. But we would still +have to explain the physiques, themselves. A great deal, of course, +could be laid to inheritance. But what, exactly, is inherited? And +why was the ancestor from whom the physiognomy was handed down built +the way he was? And so we become involved in the whole question of +racial differences, and it will be much safer to return once more to +individual cases; to see if we can assign any reason not only for the +fat man’s plumpness but for his customary good humor, and for the +reformer’s thinness as well as his usual sourness of disposition. + +For a long time such reasons were largely matters of speculation, +but in recent years, particularly since 1889, science has turned its +attention to this problem of personality. And its solution seems +more and more to lie in an exact knowledge of the glands of internal +secretion, or as they are often called, the endocrin glands. + + + + + OUR KNOWLEDGE OF THE ENDOCRIN GLANDS + + +The first physiologist to arouse any widespread interest among +his fellow medical men in these small ductless glands was a Paris +physician, Brown-Sequard. The experiments which he performed and the +theories which he propounded have, for the most part, been disproved, +but the enthusiasm which went into his investigations was soon caught +by other scientists. In the last forty years masses of data have been +collected which have thrown an increasingly brighter light on this +subject which until comparatively recently was completely shrouded in +darkness. Today candidates for medical degrees must have as full and +up-to-date knowledge of the endocrin system as they have of the action +of the heart and lungs and the disorders of digestion. Psychiatrists +prescribe glandular treatments as supplements to their mental analyses. +And attendants at feeble minded institutions and social workers must +learn to recognize distinctive glandular types. + +There have been two methods of gathering information about these glands +whose importance for medicine and for psychiatry is becoming greater +and greater: the clinical and the experimental. In the experimental +method, which gives the more accurate results, animals are used as +subjects. A certain gland is removed from a certain animal and then +his growth, his movements, his whole life history subsequent to the +operation is carefully noted and compared to the life histories of +normal animals of the same species. Or the extract from another gland +is injected into the blood stream of another animal and his behavior +after the injection correlated with that of his fellows. + +Human beings, of course, cannot be experimented upon in this ruthless +fashion, but medical clinicians have found that nature, herself, has in +many cases already done a good bit of experimenting. Some individuals +are born with one or another of their endocrin glands either smaller +or larger or more or less active than is customary. Several of these +glands grow so close to the surface of the body that any abnormality +of them can be easily seen. Others, which are more securely hidden, +can be detected by the X-ray. And it has been discovered that whenever +an endocrin gland is exceptionally large or small or extremely active +or noticeably sluggish, the individual in whom this abnormal condition +occurs will exhibit other peculiarities, either of physical or mental +development――most likely of both. + +From these two sources, the clinic and the animal laboratory, some +very definite information about extreme types of personality has +been obtained, and the knowledge in many cases has been carried over +to explain commoner but even more interesting variations of normal +personality. + + + + + THE NATURE OF GLANDS + + +The human body contains many thousands of glandular structures, +some large, some small, some simple, some complex, but all of them +absolutely essential to its proper growth and health. Some of these +organs which are most familiar are the sweat glands through the +skin, the salivary glands of the mouth, the gastric glands of the +stomach, the liver, the kidneys, the pancreas, and the male and female +reproductive glands. Except for those of reproduction, the glands in +this list are not to any especial extent connected with personality. +Of course, if they do not function correctly, the health is impaired +and changes in temperament result. But that much can be said of any +other physiological organ. For the most part these glands of external +secretion, as they are called, each has its own specific function to +perform. They take up certain substances from the blood stream, or +from the intestinal tract, transform them and then emit them through +well defined ducts. In this manner the kidneys secret urine, the liver +bile, the gastric glands gastric juices. The ducts or tubes which carry +the transformed substances to the exterior are essential parts of the +glands, themselves, and the secretions are always ejected through them. + +There are, however, other glandular structures in the body which have +no definite outlets. The substances which they secrete do not pass out +through well defined passages but are absorbed directly by the blood +stream. Their effect is the same as that of drugs injected into the +blood by a hypodermic needle. In fact, if the chemical constituent +of a ductless gland’s secretion is known and can be prepared in +the laboratory, the same results can be got through its artificial +injection as from the increased activity of the gland itself. + + + + + THE FUNCTION OF THE ENDOCRIN GLANDS + + +It is these ductless glands, or endocrin glands, or glands of internal +secretion (they are known by any one of these names) which especially +concern us when we speak of the effect of glands on personality. +Besides the ovaries and testes, which give off an internal as well as +an external secretion, they include the thyroid and parathyroid glands +of the neck, the thymus gland in the chest, the adrenal glands situated +just above the kidneys, and the pineal and pituitary bodies both +located within the cranium close to the brain. + +Because these organs have no visible outlets, it was only within +comparatively recent times that they were supposed to have any function +at all. Or if a purpose was assigned to them, it was usually highly +fantastic and without any basis in fact. Thus the thyroids, which +can be easily felt at the lower part of the neck on each side of the +trachea, were supposed to keep the larynx moist and so produce a dulcet +singing voice. But the thyroids, on account of their conspicuous +position, are the glands about which we have the fullest information. + +Because the secretions of the endocrin glands flow directly into the +blood stream and are therefore carried very quickly to all parts of +the body, their exact location is of slighter importance than might at +first be thought. Because the pineal and pituitary bodies happen to +be situated within the skull, they do not necessarily have a peculiar +effect upon the brain. In fact, the thyroid in the neck probably is +more closely connected with mental development than either of them. And +the function of the pineal is more like that of the thymus than it is +that of its nearer neighbor, the pituitary. + +_The thymus and the pineal._ Broadly speaking, we may say that the +thymus and the pineal are the glands which control childhood. Both are +present and well developed at birth but continue to grow and expand +for some years later. Each ceases to grow at puberty when the sexual +glands become active. In normal individuals the pineal body disappears +entirely after adolescence and very little is left of the thymus +subsequent to this period. + +_The internal secretion of the reproductive glands._ Simultaneously +with the atrophy of the thymus and the pineal body, the internal +secretion of the reproductive glands, which up to this time have +been dormant, commences and puberty sets in. The chief effect of the +endocrin activity of the testes and ovaries lies in the development +of the secondary sexual characteristics. In this connection the +investigations of Steinach are the most authoritative as well as the +most widely known. His experiments proved conclusively that it is not +the reproductive elements proper but the interstitial cells of Leydig, +which lie within the larger sex glands, which furnish the internal +secretion. Professor Howell sums up Steinach’s primary investigations +as follows: + +“Making use of very young animals (Steinach) has transplanted +the testes from their normal position to other regions. Such +animals develop normally, show all of the usual secondary sexual +characteristics, and manifest full sexual desire and potency at the +proper period. When the transplanted glands are examined the sexual +elements are lacking, but the interstitial cells are increased in +amount. It would appear from this work that sexual puberty is dependent +upon the internal secretion furnished by these cells, and Steinach +proposes to designate them collectively as the ‘puberty glands.’ This +observer reports further remarkable experiments in which young males +(rats, guinea pigs) were first castrated and then had transplanted +under the skin or in the peritoneal cavity the ovary from a female +of the same species. Under such conditions the graft of the ovary +takes, and unlike the grafted testicle both the reproductive cells and +the interstitial cells survive. In such animals the secondary male +characteristics do not develop, his genital organs remain infantile; +he exhibits, on the contrary, the female characteristics, as shown by +his size, the character of the hair, and especially by the development +of mammae and nipples. So far as the external characteristics are +concerned the animal is completely feminized, and Steinach states that +such an animal is sought by the male as though it were a true female.” + +Working with very old animals, Steinach has further proved that by +splitting the seminal duct, thus blocking the external secretion of the +testes, the interstitial cells can be made to function more vigorously +and a temporary rejuvenation, a sort of second adolescence, can be +produced. + +Not all of the phenomena usually associated with puberty are, however, +caused directly by the activity of the reproductive endocrin glands. +Many of them are effected by the interstitial secretions stimulating +to greater activity other ductless glands, namely, the pituitary, the +adrenals and the thyroid. + +_The thyroids and parathyroids._ So tightly are the parathyroids +imbedded in the thyroids in all carnivorous and omnivorous animals, +that many fatal operations were performed before it was discovered +that the two are separate, if not completely independent organs. +Goiters, which are always either enlargements of the thyroids, +themselves, or of the connecting tissue surrounding the thyroids, +can be easily eliminated by making a small incision in the neck and +cutting away the superfluous tissue. In certain geographical regions +where the soil contains very little iodine (the most important element +in thyroid secretion) the thyroids, in an attempt to overcome this +deficiency, grow abnormally large and endemic goiters result. In the +country surrounding the Great Lakes of America and in the valleys of +Switzerland such goiters are common. Often they are not large enough to +be especially dangerous or conspicuous, but in some individuals they +attain an enormous size and, of course, their possessors are anxious to +have them reduce. Soon after the introduction of medical surgery, many +beautiful Swiss ladies went into Paris to have their unbecoming tumors +removed. And about half of those who were operated upon died within +a few days. The rest recovered and showed no ill effects of their +experience. Physicians were at a loss to account for the fatalities. +But as animal experimentation was making headway, an explanation was +soon forthcoming from the physiological laboratories. + +The laboratory investigators discovered that if both thyroids were +removed from carnivorous animals the subjects were within a few hours +seized by severe convulsions and soon died. Herbivorous animals, on +the other hand, lived for a long time after complete thyroidectomy, +although they exhibited profound changes in what might be termed their +personalities. Anatomical examinations showed that in all carnivorous +and omnivorous animals the four tiny parathyroids are imbedded in the +thyroid, while in herbivorous species two of the parathyroids are +separated from and lie outside of the larger gland. From this it was +decided that the thyroids, although they are most important to proper +development, are not essential to life, while the parathyroids, through +the cancelling effect they have upon various poisons continually given +off by the body, are. In the case of the unfortunate Swiss beauties, +the parathyroids had been inadvertently cut away with parts of the +thyroids in those who succumbed to the operation, but were left intact +in those who survived. + +_The function of the thyroid._ The thyroid is the endocrin gland +about whose function we have the most complete information. Diseases +of the thyroid, in particular goiters, are far from uncommon and +the effects of these diseases have been carefully studied. Also the +chemical constituents of the thyroid secretion has been determined and +an artificial thyroid extract is now easily manufactured. This has +been widely used in animal experimentation and as a human therapeutic. +In normal individuals the thyroid glands function throughout life. +In children they are necessary both to normal physical growth and to +proper mental development. In adult life they are essential to body +metabolism and mental stability. + +_The pituitary and the adrenals._ Although the adrenal and the +pituitary is each a single gland, both of them have two well defined +parts. As in the case of the parathyroids and the thyroids, the +anterior lobe of the pituitary and the cortex of the adrenals are +essential to life, while the medulla of the adrenals and the posterior +lobe of the pituitary furnish the secretions which have the more +pronounced effect on the personality. Unlike the parathyroid, however, +the life-essential portions of each of these glands is intimately +connected with sexual development. + +The chemical properties of the secretion produced by the medulla of +the adrenal glands are known and form the basis of the drug called +adrenalin. The effects of this drug have, of course, been carefully +studied. The two most important results of an artificial injection of +adrenalin lie in a strong stimulation of the nerves which control the +heart, the blood vessels and the muscles; and an increase in the amount +of sugar in the blood. Translated into more general terms, which will +be explained in detail later, this means that the adrenals regulate our +emotions as the thyroids do our mental life. And the posterior lobe of +the pituitary body, in much the same manner, controls the muscles and +skeletal bones directly. + +From this brief outline of the role of the various ductless glands +it should be evident that a well balanced person, a thoroughly +normal individual, is one whose endocrin system is nicely attuned. +His every gland secretes just enough but not too much. From the +interstitial cells of his sexual glands he gets his secondary sexual +characteristics, which until he reaches adolescence were kept in +abeyance by his thymus and his pineal. His thyroid keeps his brain +active; his pituitary body his muscles well toned; his adrenals his +circulation well regulated and his emotional apparatus ready for +emergencies. But, let us see what happens to an individual when one +particular gland is either more or less active than it properly should +be. + + + + + GLANDULAR ABNORMALITIES + + +The effects of heightened or lessened secretion of the sexual glands +can be easily predicted. Abundant and very active interstitial cells +cause the completely masculine man or the entirely feminine woman. When +these cells are greatly reduced in number or dormant in their function, +the sexual types are not so pronounced and approach each other in +secondary characteristics. It is not until this condition becomes +complicated by derangements of other ductless glands that it becomes +definitely abnormal, but any variation in any one of these other organs +is more than apt to have a direct effect on the reproductive system. +This is shown clearly in the case of the thymus and the pineal. + +The pineal gland, as we have seen, is essentially a gland of childhood. +If both his pineal and his thymus are functioning normally then a child +will be like other children. He will grow and develop gradually until +he reaches his teens when the more drastic changes of puberty commence. +It is at this time that his pineal body should cease to function and +begin to atrophy. But suppose, for some reason, it begins to atrophy +when he is only about six or seven years of age. What happens then? +The child begins to grow remarkably, his reproductive organs develop, +his figure becomes like that of an adult and he shows a strange mental +precocity. This is the classical type of the child prodigy. And it was +the pineal gland about which so much was said in the Leopold-Loeb +murder trial. + +If the pineal body continues to function well into the teens an +individual who is almost the exact opposite of the one just described +develops. Puberty is delayed for a long while――probably indefinitely. +The child never grows up either anatomically, sexually or mentally. + +The abnormal history of the thymus gland is similar to that of the +pineal, but with a few slight differences. While the pineal and the +thymus both act reciprocally with the sexual glands, they also have +some check upon each other. It may be said in general that while both +of these glands function in lieu of sexual secretion, the thymus +allows the child to grow to its full stature while the pineal protects +him from growing too rapidly. (It was to be borne in mind, however, +that both of these glands of childhood control growth indirectly, as +we shall see when we come to study the pituitary in more detail.) +Accordingly then, if a child has an insufficient thymus, his growth is +stunted, his bones do not harden properly, he is subject to rickets and +to malnutrition, he is apt to become either very fat or very thin; and +there is a corresponding retardation of mental growth. + +If the thymus continues to be active after the age at which puberty +normally occurs, the results are more striking even than they are +when this gland is insufficient during childhood. In this case the +child proceeds to grow, but he grows only as a child. His reproductive +organs do not develop and he acquires none of the characteristics +which typify adolescence. Human beings of this class are not rare, but +on account of the striking changes which occur when a tadpole matures, +that is when its metamorphosis into a frog takes place, the result of +a prolonged activity of the thymus is illustrated more clearly in the +case of this animal than of any other. + +Tadpoles fed upon a continual diet of thymus extract will not change +into frogs. They remain tadpoles, but tadpoles of tremendous size. +And a eunuch who has been castrated just before adolescence has, +essentially, a tadpole personality. Because his interstitial cells +never become active, no check is put upon his thymus. Instead of +atrophying, it continues to enlarge. Consequently a eunuch is apt to +be very tall, possibly also babyishly plump, but he undergoes none of +the usual adolescent transformations. His voice remains high pitched, +he does not grow a beard and all of his other characteristics remain +almost completely childlike. + +If thyroid extract is fed to young tadpoles an effect which is the +exact opposite of that produced by thymus feeding results. The tadpoles +do not grow, but metamorphosis into frogs takes place when they are +still very tiny. Frogs scarcely larger than a fly can be developed in +this manner. Thus it appears that not all of the processes usually +associated with puberty are caused directly by the sexual glands, but +rather by the internal secretions of these glands stimulating others +to greater or lesser activity. + +The thyroid, however, is essential to normal development in childhood +and later life as well as at adolescence. In children an insufficient +amount of thyroid secretion produces a state of arrested development +known as cretinism. Cretins are familiar figures in all feeble-minded +institutions. They are small in stature, their skin is rough and +coarse, their features are flat and characterless, and their tongues +large and thick. They are awkward, unkempt and lazy. Mentally they are +classified as idiots. Since the discovery of the active principle of +the thyroid――thyroixin――cretinous children, if treated early enough, +exhibit signs of marked improvement. They grow, they become more +energetic and their mentality approaches more nearly to the normal. + +When an insufficiency of thyroid extract occurs after adolescence, the +disease known as myxedema sets in. Persons afflicted with this malady +show definite and characteristic symptoms. Their hair begins to fall +out, their skin becomes moist and swollen and they suffer continually +from exhaustion. Most noticeable of all is a pronounced mental +deterioration. This disease is commonly caused by an abnormal growth +of the tissues surrounding the thyroid. This enlarged tissue crowds in +upon the gland and causes it to shrink in size. It cannot under these +conditions secrete the amount of extract necessary to bodily health, +and myxedema results. The disease can be helped to some extent by +regular doses of thyroixin and a permanent cure can be effected by +an operation through which the superfluous tissue is removed and the +thyroid allowed once more to resume its natural size. + +An exophthalmic goiter produces results which are the exact opposite +of those just described. In this case it is the thyroid gland, itself, +which expands and therefore becomes hyperactive. The resulting +excess in thyroid secretion causes the victim of the goiter to +become extremely nervous and irritable (in contrast to the lassitude +accompanying cretinism and myxedema). One of the most striking symptoms +of this disease are the characteristic bulging, staring eyes. An +operation by which the gland is cut down to its normal size alleviates +the effects of the exophthalmic goiter. + +When we were speaking of the growth of the skeleton, both in children +and in adults, we noted that although it was influenced by the thymus, +the pineal and the sexual glands, it was directly caused by another. +This growth controlling organ is the pituitary. An excess of pituitary +secretion in children brings about a condition known as gigantism. It +is a hyperactive pituitary which is responsible for the giants to be +seen in side shows, and a hypoactive one which occasions their fellow +freaks, the midgets. An insufficiency of the secretion of this gland +causes pronounced obesity and an unnatural craving for sweets in adults. + +The pituitary, like most of the other ductless glands, is also +definitely related to the reproductive organs. If for any reason +its development in a child is retarded, puberty does not occur. An +individual showing eunuchoid tendencies results. + +An increase in the amount of sugar in the blood and a superactivity of +the entire circulatory system always follows an injection of adrenalin. +This is given as proof of the fact that the adrenal glands have a +definite control over the emotions. A brief summary of some recent +investigations will explain this statement. Cannon of Harvard working +with dogs, and Watson of Johns Hopkins using human subjects, discovered +that the chief characteristics of the primary emotions, such as fear +and rage, were an increase in blood pressure and an unusual supply of +sugar in the blood. These two conditions constitute the physiology +of an emotion, whatever its mental correlate may be. Cannon found +further that the adrenals, as opposed to some of the other ductless +glands, are richly supplied with nerve fibers. From this and from +other experimental evidence he concluded that impulses from the brain +stimulating the adrenals bring about the characteristic emotional +symptoms. Of course these glands are not dormant at unemotional periods +but under stress of mental excitement they become superactive. If the +adrenal is unusually large and consequently congenitally hyperactive, +an emotional state can be induced by a very mild stimulation. +Consequently persons who possess exceptionally hard working adrenals +can under very ordinary conditions become keyed up to a high pitch +of excitement. Their hearts pound fiercely, their nerves are taut and +they are constantly ready for action. Their digestions may suffer +as a result of most of their energies being turned away from normal +nutritive activities, but they can accomplish a great deal as long as +their health continues. + +Persons with a deficiency of adrenal secretion show opposite +characteristics. They tire easily, they are continually depressed and +they take very little interest in life. + +Each gland which we have studied has been shown to have some connection +with sexual development. The adrenals form no exception to this rule +but their influence in this respect is even less straightforward than +that of the pituitary and thyroids. This is how Professor Berman +describes the relation between the adrenal glands and sexual phenomena: + +“In certain disturbances of these glands, especially when there are +tumors, which supply a massive dose of the secretion to the blood +presumably, peculiar sex phenomena and irregularities are produced. +If the disease be present in the fetus, taking hold before birth, and +so brought into the world with the child, there evolves the condition +of pseudo-hermaphroditism. The individual, if a female, presents to a +greater or less extent the external habits and character of the other +sex. So that she is actually taken for a man, although the primary +sex organs are ovaries, often not discovered to be such except when +examined after an operation. How closely such an occurrence touches +upon the problems of sex inversion and perversion comes at once to mind. + +“If the processes involving the adrenal cortex attacks it after birth, +the symmetrical correspondence and harmony of the secondary sex +characters are not affected. But there follows a curious hastening +of the ripening of body and mind summed up in the word puberty, +a precocious puberty, with the most startling effects. A little +girl of 2, 3, or 4 years of age perhaps will come to exhibit the +growth and appearance of a girl of 14. She begins to menstruate, +her breasts swell, she shoots up in height and weight, sprouts the +hair distribution of the adult, and the mentality of the adolescent, +restless, acquiring, doubting emerge. A tot bewitched into puberty! +A boy of six or seven may suddenly, in the course of a few weeks or +months, become a little man, robust, rather short and stocky, but +moustached, with the muscular strength and sexual power of a man and +thinking as a man.... + +“If the trouble in the adrenal cortex starts after puberty, phenomena +of the same type, but of a different order, exhibit themselves. A +woman, say in the thirties, becomes thus afflicted. Slowly or quickly +her body will be covered by an abundant growth of hair, more or less +of a beard and moustache appear upon the face, her voice will become +deep and penetrating, her muscles will harden, and she will show a +capacity for hard physical labor. Sexually she appears to be made +over, masculinity now predominates in her make-up. Virilism is the name +by which the French in particular have popularized the knowledge of the +condition.” + + + + + GLANDS AND NORMAL PERSONALITY + + +Most of these cases which have been described, where one single gland +is much too active or a great deal too sluggish, would be classified as +extreme types of personality. They are, for the most part, definitely +normal. Primarily because they are so distinctive it was fairly easy to +ascertain just which form of glandular disorder conditioned which kind +of mental or physical peculiarity. With personalities which conform +more closely to the norm, the question of specific glandular control +becomes more baffling. Yet when we note how accurately each specific +glandular derangement is correlated with a definite peculiarity of +personality, it seems highly probable that slighter variations in +individuality may also be due to differences in the endocrin system. +When we further realize that any one of the seven glands of internal +secretion may be either a little overactive or a little underactive +while the rest are normal, or that two or three or four or five glands +may be slightly abnormal in one way or another, it begins to appear +as though this complicated endocrin system may be responsible for all +the lesser variations of personality as well as those which are more +pronounced. + +An individual whose thyroid is underactive will be different from +an individual whose thyroid is overactive, and he will be still +more unlike one whose pituitary and adrenals are also exceptionally +forceful. Moreover X-ray pictures show that when any one gland is +especially small and unable to grow larger in order to compensate for +its deficiency, some other gland may expand and in some manner take +over its function. So when we come to the study of normal personalities +the role of the endocrin system may be much more complex than it is +with the simpler and more distinctive glandular types. Our knowledge of +the glandular control of the average man is still far from complete, +but, remembering the striking symptoms of abnormal functioning, we can +discern certain general glandular tendencies among mainly normal types. +We cannot as yet say that Mr. Smith’s thyroid is one hundred per cent +efficient while his pituitary works only one half as energetically as +it should and his adrenals twenty per cent actively. But we can say +that from certain physical or mental traits which Mr. Smith shows his +whole personality is probably dominated by one or more of his endocrine +glands. + +If Mr. Smith is exceptionally tall and the bones in his face and hands +and feet noticeably large, it is safe to assume that Mr. Smith has a +very forceful pituitary body. Yet, if in spite of his height, Mr. Smith +appears young for his age, has a smooth boyish face and a youthful +outlook on life, then we may correctly infer that his thymus has been +active longer than is customary with adults. Mrs. Smith, too, may seem +much younger than her chronological age would lead one to expect, +and she, also, may have a rudimentary thymus which is continuing to +function. But if, as opposed to her husband, she is small and dainty, +we would suppose that her pituitary is also smaller than his. And if +with her doll-baby stature, she had a still childish mind and was not +particularly energetic, we might further conclude that her thyroid +was not accomplishing all that it should. If, as she grew older, she +became suddenly nervous and irritable, it would seem evident that this +gland was suddenly expanding in an attempt to overcome its earlier +deficiencies. + +Mr. and Mrs. Smith might have two children, a son and a daughter, who +while they were young resembled each other rather closely. But as they +grew older they might seem more and more different. Perhaps the girl +could continue to grow rapidly after she was twelve years of age but +would still appear childish. She would still play with her dolls and +with younger children and take no interest in the activities which +normally absorb the attention of a young girl. Then we would infer +that the thymic tendency which she inherited from both parents was +intensified in her case. If, however, her other glands were able to +overcome this dominance of the thymus and so allow her to achieve +adolescence, she might still never become so completely feminine as her +mother. She would never be very interested in boys or young men, but +would be enthusiastic about athletics and feminist movements. Then it +would be reasonable to assume that her adrenal glands had taken over +the supremacy once held by the thymus. + +The Smith boy, on the other hand, might mature rapidly. He would become +quiet and serious at the age when most boys are still playing marbles +and hooky. His voice would change and his beard would begin to grow. +In this case we could be certain that either his thymus or his pineal +gland had deserted him too soon. If he stopped growing at this time it +would indicate that his thymus was failing him, but if he continued to +become taller and his mind also matured quickly the evidence would be +in favor of an atrophying pineal. If later in life he suddenly became +exceedingly plump and rather listless, we might conclude that still +another gland was not working as hard as it might. This time it would +be his pituitary. + +These cases are, of course, merely hypothetic and it is entirely too +much to expect such a small family to show such divergent types and +so many changes in personality. But it does indicate how glandular +activity can affect the character and habits of persons who would not +be considered abnormal. And taking the population as a whole, certain +glandular tendencies do determine definite types of personality. The +slow, stupid, colorless people have too little thyroid secretion. Those +who are superactive mentally and temperamentally have a large amount +of this extract. The very fat or very tall people have extraordinary +pituitaries. The energetic, executive types are well supplied with +adrenalin. And most of those who seem exceptionally youthful long after +they have reached chronological maturity have had thymuses or pineals +which have functioned longer than is natural in adult life. + + + * * * * * + + + Transcriber’s Notes: + + ――Text in italics is enclosed by underscores (_italics_). + + ――Punctuation and spelling inaccuracies were silently corrected. + + ――Archaic and variable spelling has been preserved. + + ――Variations in hyphenation and compound words have been preserved. + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 77671 *** diff --git a/77671-h/77671-h.htm b/77671-h/77671-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..612df9c --- /dev/null +++ b/77671-h/77671-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,1273 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html> +<html lang="en"> +<head> + <meta charset="UTF-8"> + <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"> + + <title> + How Glands Affect Personality | Project Gutenberg + </title> + + <link rel="icon" href="images/cover.jpg" type="image/x-cover"> + + <style> + +/* DACSoft styles */ + +body { + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; +} + +/* General headers */ +h1 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; +} + +/* Chapter headers */ +h2 { + text-align: center; + font-weight: bold; + margin: .75em 0; +} + +div.chapter { + page-break-before: always; +} + +.nobreak { + page-break-before: avoid; +} + +/* Indented paragraph */ +p { + margin-top: .51em; + margin-bottom: .49em; + text-align: justify; + text-indent: 1em; +} + +/* Unindented paragraph */ +.noi {text-indent: 0em;} + +/* Centered unindented paragraph */ +.noic { + text-indent: 0em; + text-align: center; +} + +/* Non-standard paragraph margins */ +.p6 {margin-top: 6em;} + +/* Horizontal rules */ +hr { + width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: 33.5%; + margin-right: 33.5%; + clear: both; +} + +hr.chap { + width: 65%; + margin-left: 17.5%; + margin-right: 17.5%; +} + +@media print { + hr.chap { + display: none; + visibility: hidden; + } +} + +/* Tables */ +table { + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; +} + +td { + padding: .25em; +} + +th { + padding: .25em; + font-weight: normal; +} + +/* Table cell alignments */ +.tdl { + text-align: left; +} + +.tdr { + text-align: right; +} + +.tdrb { + text-align: right; + vertical-align: bottom; +} + +/* Physical book page and line numbers */ +.pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + /* visibility: hidden; */ + position: absolute; + right: 3%; +/* left: 92%; */ + font-size: x-small; + font-style: normal; + font-weight: normal; + font-variant: normal; + text-align: right; + color: gray; +} /* page numbers */ + +/* Small fonts and lowercase small-caps */ +.smfont { + font-size: .9em; +} + +.lrgfont { + font-size: 2em; +} + + +/* Images */ +img { + max-width: 100%; /* no image to be wider than screen or containing div */ + height:auto; /* keep height in proportion to width */ +} + +.figcenter { + margin: auto; + text-align: center; + page-break-inside: avoid; + max-width: 90%; /* div no wider than screen, even when screen is narrow */ +} + +/* Transcriber's notes */ +.tnote { + background-color: #E6E6FA; + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + padding: 0.5em; +} + +.tntitle { + font-size: 1.25em; + font-weight: bold; + text-align: center; + clear: both; +} + +/* Title page borders and content. */ +.title { + font-size: 1.75em; + font-weight: bold; + text-align: center; + clear: both; +} + +.author { + font-size: 1.25em; + text-align: center; + clear: both; +} + + </style> +</head> + +<body> +<div style='text-align:center'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 77671 ***</div> + + +<figure class="figcenter" id="cover"> + <img src="images/cover.jpg" alt="book cover" title="book cover"> +</figure> + + + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<table> +<tr> + <td class="tdl"> + LITTLE BLUE BOOK NO.<br> + <span class="smfont">Edited by E. Haldeman-Julius</span> + </td> + <td class="tdl lrgfont">1477</td> +</tr> +</table> + +<h1 class="nobreak">How Glands Affect<br> +Personality</h1> + +<p class="noi author">Grace Adams</p> + +<p class="p6 noic">HALDEMAN-JULIUS PUBLICATIONS<br> +GIRARD, KANSAS</p> +</div> + + + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p class="noic">Copyright, 1929,<br> +Haldeman-Julius Company</p> + + +<p class="p6 noic">PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA</p> +</div> + + + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CONTENTS">CONTENTS</h2> + +<table> +<colgroup> + <col style="width: 90%;"> + <col style="width: 10%;"> +</colgroup> +<tr> + <th class="tdl"> </th> + <th class="tdr">Page</th> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdl"><a href="#Personality">What Is Personality?</a></td> + <td class="tdrb">5</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdl"><a href="#Knowledge">Our Knowledge of the Endocrin Glands</a></td> + <td class="tdrb">9</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdl"><a href="#Nature">The Nature of Glands</a></td> + <td class="tdrb">11</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdl"><a href="#Function">The Function of the Endocrin Glands</a></td> + <td class="tdrb">13</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdl"><a href="#Glandular">Glandular Abnormalities</a></td> + <td class="tdrb">20</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdl"><a href="#Normal">Glands and Normal Personality</a></td> + <td class="tdrb">29</td> +</tr> +</table> +</div> + + + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_5">[5]</span></p> + +<p class="noi title">HOW GLANDS AFFECT PERSONALITY</p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="Personality">WHAT IS PERSONALITY?</h2> +</div> + + +<p>How do glands affect personality? Before +any answer can be given to that question, before +any discussion of the nature of glands can +be undertaken, it is essential to agree upon a +working definition of that currently popular +but often rather ambiguous word—personality. +What, precisely, does it mean?</p> + +<p>Alluring advertisements in innumerable +gaudy magazines promise, for a relatively small +fee, to “develop your personality.” Even the +pages of otherwise sedate and classical college +catalogues boast of courses in “personality +training.” And the term comes up incessantly +in everyday conversation. We hear that a +woman is beautiful but that she lacks personality; +or that a man is not brilliant but that +he has a great deal of personality. Such uses +of the word undoubtedly fill a descriptive purpose. +Most of us know what it means when it +is employed in this manner. Yet it may be +misleading. It implies that personality is a +quality apart from physical and mental traits +which some individuals possess to a high degree +and in which others are totally deficient.</p> + +<p>How can such an elusive attribute be either +explained or defined? It cannot be, of course, +but then it does not need to be for it is impossible +to imagine a person without a personality. +Every human being has, of necessity, a +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_6">[6]</span>personality. It is personality which distinguishes +him from some people and causes him +to resemble others. And into its make-up goes +every trait, physical, mental, emotional and +temperamental, which he possesses; his sex, +his height, his weight, the size and character of +his features, his emotional stability, his mental +powers, his special abilities. If these characteristics +change to any great extent then his total +personality is different.</p> + +<p>Some of these traits, of course, seem more +important, more ingrained in individuality +than others. Sex, for example, appears more +essential than weight. A friend often becomes +suddenly much stouter or thinner and yet retains +the same character. On the other hand, +the whole personality of the fat lady of the +side show depends on her weight, that of the +human skeleton on his weight and height combined, +and of the bearded lady on her abnormal +growth of hair. To a lesser degree such gross +physical traits play an important role in the +personalities of more normal individuals. And, +speaking very generally, any marked anatomical +variation is apt to be accompanied by finer +mental and temperamental differences.</p> + +<p>In everyday life we casually accept this correlation +between physical and mental characteristics. +We somehow unthinkingly divide the +population into definite physiological types and +we more or less expect these physiological +types to show certain well marked traits of +personality. In cartoons the reformer, the vice-crusader, +is always portrayed as a tall, stiff, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_7">[7]</span>angular individual with a long, narrow face, +a straight nose and tightly pressed lips. Without +any accompanying label we would know +that such a character was supposed to represent +an intolerant, self-opinionated bigot. And +without consulting our programs we can usually +guess correctly which member of the cast of +a musical comedy is the comedian. If there is +an exceptionally plump person on the stage it +is more than likely that it is he who will have +most of the comical lines to repeat, who will be +required to take the awkward tumbles and, +in general, be responsible for the audience’s +laughter. For it is customary to expect fat +people to be jolly and amusing. They look as +though they should be and we feel disappointed +if they turn out to be morose or dignified or +too energetic. And in the same way we expect +the sinister, dark mustachioed gentleman of the +comic strips to be the villain, and the dainty, +graceful maiden on the moving picture screen +to be the sweet and guileless heroine.</p> + +<p>These stock characters are, of course, highly +conventionalized, but the convention is a natural, +not an artificial one. It is natural to +assume that certain physical types will show +certain temperamental traits because usually +they do. Often, however, they do not run true +to form. And the personalities which surprise +us by their anomalies are apt to be the ones +which pique our curiosity, which arouse our interest +and for whose individuality we seek an +explanation. Yet it would be just as instructive +to find a reason for those who conform to +type as for those who differ; to learn why the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_8">[8]</span>thin, wiry, dark Frenchman is volatile, quick +and romantic, while the more stolidly built +Scandinavian is slower, surer, and less excitable. +We might, if it were not for the anomalies +we have just noted, expect their respective +physiques alone to account for their temperamental +differences. But we would still have +to explain the physiques, themselves. A great +deal, of course, could be laid to inheritance. +But what, exactly, is inherited? And why was +the ancestor from whom the physiognomy was +handed down built the way he was? And so +we become involved in the whole question of +racial differences, and it will be much safer to +return once more to individual cases; to see if +we can assign any reason not only for the fat +man’s plumpness but for his customary good +humor, and for the reformer’s thinness as well +as his usual sourness of disposition.</p> + +<p>For a long time such reasons were largely +matters of speculation, but in recent years, +particularly since 1889, science has turned its +attention to this problem of personality. And +its solution seems more and more to lie in an +exact knowledge of the glands of internal secretion, +or as they are often called, the endocrin +glands.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_9">[9]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="Knowledge">OUR KNOWLEDGE OF THE ENDOCRIN GLANDS</h2> +</div> + + +<p>The first physiologist to arouse any widespread +interest among his fellow medical men +in these small ductless glands was a Paris +physician, Brown-Sequard. The experiments +which he performed and the theories which he +propounded have, for the most part, been disproved, +but the enthusiasm which went into +his investigations was soon caught by other +scientists. In the last forty years masses of +data have been collected which have thrown an +increasingly brighter light on this subject +which until comparatively recently was completely +shrouded in darkness. Today candidates +for medical degrees must have as full and +up-to-date knowledge of the endocrin system as +they have of the action of the heart and lungs +and the disorders of digestion. Psychiatrists +prescribe glandular treatments as supplements +to their mental analyses. And attendants at +feeble minded institutions and social workers +must learn to recognize distinctive glandular +types.</p> + +<p>There have been two methods of gathering +information about these glands whose importance +for medicine and for psychiatry is becoming +greater and greater: the clinical and the +experimental. In the experimental method, +which gives the more accurate results, animals +are used as subjects. A certain gland is removed +from a certain animal and then his +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_10">[10]</span>growth, his movements, his whole life history +subsequent to the operation is carefully noted +and compared to the life histories of normal +animals of the same species. Or the extract +from another gland is injected into the blood +stream of another animal and his behavior after +the injection correlated with that of his fellows.</p> + +<p>Human beings, of course, cannot be experimented +upon in this ruthless fashion, but medical +clinicians have found that nature, herself, +has in many cases already done a good bit of +experimenting. Some individuals are born with +one or another of their endocrin glands either +smaller or larger or more or less active than +is customary. Several of these glands grow so +close to the surface of the body that any abnormality +of them can be easily seen. Others, +which are more securely hidden, can be detected +by the X-ray. And it has been discovered +that whenever an endocrin gland is exceptionally +large or small or extremely active or +noticeably sluggish, the individual in whom +this abnormal condition occurs will exhibit +other peculiarities, either of physical or mental +development—most likely of both.</p> + +<p>From these two sources, the clinic and the +animal laboratory, some very definite information +about extreme types of personality has +been obtained, and the knowledge in many +cases has been carried over to explain commoner +but even more interesting variations of +normal personality.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_11">[11]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="Nature">THE NATURE OF GLANDS</h2> +</div> + + +<p>The human body contains many thousands of +glandular structures, some large, some small, +some simple, some complex, but all of them absolutely +essential to its proper growth and +health. Some of these organs which are most +familiar are the sweat glands through the skin, +the salivary glands of the mouth, the gastric +glands of the stomach, the liver, the kidneys, +the pancreas, and the male and female reproductive +glands. Except for those of reproduction, +the glands in this list are not to any +especial extent connected with personality. Of +course, if they do not function correctly, the +health is impaired and changes in temperament +result. But that much can be said of any other +physiological organ. For the most part these +glands of external secretion, as they are called, +each has its own specific function to perform. +They take up certain substances from the blood +stream, or from the intestinal tract, transform +them and then emit them through well defined +ducts. In this manner the kidneys secret urine, +the liver bile, the gastric glands gastric juices. +The ducts or tubes which carry the transformed +substances to the exterior are essential parts of +the glands, themselves, and the secretions are +always ejected through them.</p> + +<p>There are, however, other glandular structures +in the body which have no definite outlets. +The substances which they secrete do not +pass out through well defined passages but are +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_12">[12]</span>absorbed directly by the blood stream. Their +effect is the same as that of drugs injected +into the blood by a hypodermic needle. In fact, +if the chemical constituent of a ductless gland’s +secretion is known and can be prepared in the +laboratory, the same results can be got through +its artificial injection as from the increased +activity of the gland itself.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_13">[13]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="Function">THE FUNCTION OF THE ENDOCRIN GLANDS</h2> +</div> + + +<p>It is these ductless glands, or endocrin glands, +or glands of internal secretion (they are known +by any one of these names) which especially +concern us when we speak of the effect of +glands on personality. Besides the ovaries and +testes, which give off an internal as well as an +external secretion, they include the thyroid and +parathyroid glands of the neck, the thymus +gland in the chest, the adrenal glands situated +just above the kidneys, and the pineal and pituitary +bodies both located within the cranium +close to the brain.</p> + +<p>Because these organs have no visible outlets, +it was only within comparatively recent times +that they were supposed to have any function +at all. Or if a purpose was assigned to them, +it was usually highly fantastic and without any +basis in fact. Thus the thyroids, which can be +easily felt at the lower part of the neck on +each side of the trachea, were supposed to keep +the larynx moist and so produce a dulcet singing +voice. But the thyroids, on account of +their conspicuous position, are the glands about +which we have the fullest information.</p> + +<p>Because the secretions of the endocrin +glands flow directly into the blood stream and +are therefore carried very quickly to all parts +of the body, their exact location is of slighter +importance than might at first be thought. +Because the pineal and pituitary bodies happen +to be situated within the skull, they do not +necessarily have a peculiar effect upon the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_14">[14]</span>brain. In fact, the thyroid in the neck probably +is more closely connected with mental +development than either of them. And the +function of the pineal is more like that of the +thymus than it is that of its nearer neighbor, +the pituitary.</p> + +<p><i>The thymus and the pineal.</i> Broadly speaking, +we may say that the thymus and the +pineal are the glands which control childhood. +Both are present and well developed at birth +but continue to grow and expand for some +years later. Each ceases to grow at puberty +when the sexual glands become active. In +normal individuals the pineal body disappears +entirely after adolescence and very little is +left of the thymus subsequent to this period.</p> + +<p><i>The internal secretion of the reproductive +glands.</i> Simultaneously with the atrophy of +the thymus and the pineal body, the internal +secretion of the reproductive glands, which up +to this time have been dormant, commences +and puberty sets in. The chief effect of the +endocrin activity of the testes and ovaries lies +in the development of the secondary sexual +characteristics. In this connection the investigations +of Steinach are the most authoritative +as well as the most widely known. His experiments +proved conclusively that it is not +the reproductive elements proper but the interstitial +cells of Leydig, which lie within the +larger sex glands, which furnish the internal +secretion. Professor Howell sums up Steinach’s +primary investigations as follows:</p> + +<p>“Making use of very young animals (Steinach) +has transplanted the testes from their +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_15">[15]</span>normal position to other regions. Such animals +develop normally, show all of the usual +secondary sexual characteristics, and manifest +full sexual desire and potency at the proper +period. When the transplanted glands are examined +the sexual elements are lacking, but the +interstitial cells are increased in amount. It +would appear from this work that sexual +puberty is dependent upon the internal secretion +furnished by these cells, and Steinach proposes +to designate them collectively as the +‘puberty glands.’ This observer reports further +remarkable experiments in which young males +(rats, guinea pigs) were first castrated and +then had transplanted under the skin or in the +peritoneal cavity the ovary from a female of +the same species. Under such conditions the +graft of the ovary takes, and unlike the grafted +testicle both the reproductive cells and the interstitial +cells survive. In such animals the +secondary male characteristics do not develop, +his genital organs remain infantile; he exhibits, +on the contrary, the female characteristics, +as shown by his size, the character of +the hair, and especially by the development +of mammae and nipples. So far as the external +characteristics are concerned the animal +is completely feminized, and Steinach states +that such an animal is sought by the male as +though it were a true female.”</p> + +<p>Working with very old animals, Steinach has +further proved that by splitting the seminal +duct, thus blocking the external secretion of +the testes, the interstitial cells can be made to +function more vigorously and a temporary rejuvenation, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_16">[16]</span>a sort of second adolescence, can +be produced.</p> + +<p>Not all of the phenomena usually associated +with puberty are, however, caused directly by +the activity of the reproductive endocrin glands. +Many of them are effected by the interstitial +secretions stimulating to greater activity other +ductless glands, namely, the pituitary, the adrenals +and the thyroid.</p> + +<p><i>The thyroids and parathyroids.</i> So tightly +are the parathyroids imbedded in the thyroids +in all carnivorous and omnivorous animals, +that many fatal operations were performed before +it was discovered that the two are separate, +if not completely independent organs. Goiters, +which are always either enlargements of the +thyroids, themselves, or of the connecting tissue +surrounding the thyroids, can be easily +eliminated by making a small incision in the +neck and cutting away the superfluous tissue. +In certain geographical regions where the soil +contains very little iodine (the most important +element in thyroid secretion) the thyroids, in +an attempt to overcome this deficiency, grow +abnormally large and endemic goiters result. +In the country surrounding the Great Lakes of +America and in the valleys of Switzerland such +goiters are common. Often they are not large +enough to be especially dangerous or conspicuous, +but in some individuals they attain an +enormous size and, of course, their possessors +are anxious to have them reduce. Soon after +the introduction of medical surgery, many beautiful +Swiss ladies went into Paris to have their +unbecoming tumors removed. And about half +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_17">[17]</span>of those who were operated upon died within +a few days. The rest recovered and showed no +ill effects of their experience. Physicians were +at a loss to account for the fatalities. But as +animal experimentation was making headway, +an explanation was soon forthcoming from the +physiological laboratories.</p> + +<p>The laboratory investigators discovered that +if both thyroids were removed from carnivorous +animals the subjects were within a few +hours seized by severe convulsions and soon +died. Herbivorous animals, on the other hand, +lived for a long time after complete thyroidectomy, +although they exhibited profound changes +in what might be termed their personalities. +Anatomical examinations showed that in all +carnivorous and omnivorous animals the four +tiny parathyroids are imbedded in the thyroid, +while in herbivorous species two of the parathyroids +are separated from and lie outside of +the larger gland. From this it was decided +that the thyroids, although they are most important +to proper development, are not essential +to life, while the parathyroids, through the +cancelling effect they have upon various poisons +continually given off by the body, are. In +the case of the unfortunate Swiss beauties, the +parathyroids had been inadvertently cut away +with parts of the thyroids in those who succumbed +to the operation, but were left intact +in those who survived.</p> + +<p><i>The function of the thyroid.</i> The thyroid is +the endocrin gland about whose function we +have the most complete information. Diseases +of the thyroid, in particular goiters, are far +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_18">[18]</span>from uncommon and the effects of these diseases +have been carefully studied. Also the +chemical constituents of the thyroid secretion +has been determined and an artificial thyroid +extract is now easily manufactured. This has +been widely used in animal experimentation +and as a human therapeutic. In normal individuals +the thyroid glands function throughout +life. In children they are necessary both +to normal physical growth and to proper mental +development. In adult life they are essential +to body metabolism and mental stability.</p> + +<p><i>The pituitary and the adrenals.</i> Although +the adrenal and the pituitary is each a single +gland, both of them have two well defined parts. +As in the case of the parathyroids and the +thyroids, the anterior lobe of the pituitary and +the cortex of the adrenals are essential to life, +while the medulla of the adrenals and the posterior +lobe of the pituitary furnish the secretions +which have the more pronounced effect +on the personality. Unlike the parathyroid, +however, the life-essential portions of each of +these glands is intimately connected with sexual +development.</p> + +<p>The chemical properties of the secretion produced +by the medulla of the adrenal glands +are known and form the basis of the drug called +adrenalin. The effects of this drug have, of +course, been carefully studied. The two most +important results of an artificial injection of +adrenalin lie in a strong stimulation of the +nerves which control the heart, the blood vessels +and the muscles; and an increase in the +amount of sugar in the blood. Translated into +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_19">[19]</span>more general terms, which will be explained in +detail later, this means that the adrenals regulate +our emotions as the thyroids do our mental +life. And the posterior lobe of the pituitary +body, in much the same manner, controls the +muscles and skeletal bones directly.</p> + +<p>From this brief outline of the role of the +various ductless glands it should be evident +that a well balanced person, a thoroughly normal +individual, is one whose endocrin system +is nicely attuned. His every gland secretes just +enough but not too much. From the interstitial +cells of his sexual glands he gets his +secondary sexual characteristics, which until +he reaches adolescence were kept in abeyance +by his thymus and his pineal. His thyroid +keeps his brain active; his pituitary body his +muscles well toned; his adrenals his circulation +well regulated and his emotional apparatus +ready for emergencies. But, let us see +what happens to an individual when one particular +gland is either more or less active than +it properly should be.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_20">[20]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="Glandular">GLANDULAR ABNORMALITIES</h2> +</div> + + +<p>The effects of heightened or lessened secretion +of the sexual glands can be easily predicted. +Abundant and very active interstitial +cells cause the completely masculine man or +the entirely feminine woman. When these +cells are greatly reduced in number or dormant +in their function, the sexual types are not so +pronounced and approach each other in secondary +characteristics. It is not until this +condition becomes complicated by derangements +of other ductless glands that it becomes definitely +abnormal, but any variation in any one +of these other organs is more than apt to have +a direct effect on the reproductive system. +This is shown clearly in the case of the thymus +and the pineal.</p> + +<p>The pineal gland, as we have seen, is essentially +a gland of childhood. If both his pineal +and his thymus are functioning normally then +a child will be like other children. He will +grow and develop gradually until he reaches +his teens when the more drastic changes of +puberty commence. It is at this time that his +pineal body should cease to function and begin +to atrophy. But suppose, for some reason, it +begins to atrophy when he is only about six +or seven years of age. What happens then? +The child begins to grow remarkably, his reproductive +organs develop, his figure becomes +like that of an adult and he shows a strange +mental precocity. This is the classical type of +the child prodigy. And it was the pineal gland +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_21">[21]</span>about which so much was said in the Leopold-Loeb +murder trial.</p> + +<p>If the pineal body continues to function well +into the teens an individual who is almost the +exact opposite of the one just described develops. +Puberty is delayed for a long while—probably +indefinitely. The child never grows +up either anatomically, sexually or mentally.</p> + +<p>The abnormal history of the thymus gland +is similar to that of the pineal, but with a few +slight differences. While the pineal and the +thymus both act reciprocally with the sexual +glands, they also have some check upon each +other. It may be said in general that while +both of these glands function in lieu of sexual +secretion, the thymus allows the child to grow +to its full stature while the pineal protects +him from growing too rapidly. (It was to be +borne in mind, however, that both of these +glands of childhood control growth indirectly, +as we shall see when we come to study the +pituitary in more detail.) Accordingly then, +if a child has an insufficient thymus, his +growth is stunted, his bones do not harden +properly, he is subject to rickets and to malnutrition, +he is apt to become either very fat +or very thin; and there is a corresponding +retardation of mental growth.</p> + +<p>If the thymus continues to be active after +the age at which puberty normally occurs, the +results are more striking even than they are +when this gland is insufficient during childhood. +In this case the child proceeds to grow, +but he grows only as a child. His reproductive +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_22">[22]</span>organs do not develop and he acquires none of +the characteristics which typify adolescence. +Human beings of this class are not rare, but +on account of the striking changes which occur +when a tadpole matures, that is when its +metamorphosis into a frog takes place, the result +of a prolonged activity of the thymus is +illustrated more clearly in the case of this +animal than of any other.</p> + +<p>Tadpoles fed upon a continual diet of thymus +extract will not change into frogs. They remain +tadpoles, but tadpoles of tremendous size. +And a eunuch who has been castrated just before +adolescence has, essentially, a tadpole +personality. Because his interstitial cells never +become active, no check is put upon his +thymus. Instead of atrophying, it continues +to enlarge. Consequently a eunuch is apt to +be very tall, possibly also babyishly plump, but +he undergoes none of the usual adolescent transformations. +His voice remains high pitched, +he does not grow a beard and all of his other +characteristics remain almost completely childlike.</p> + +<p>If thyroid extract is fed to young tadpoles an +effect which is the exact opposite of that +produced by thymus feeding results. The tadpoles +do not grow, but metamorphosis into frogs +takes place when they are still very tiny. Frogs +scarcely larger than a fly can be developed +in this manner. Thus it appears that not all +of the processes usually associated with +puberty are caused directly by the sexual +glands, but rather by the internal secretions +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_23">[23]</span>of these glands stimulating others to greater +or lesser activity.</p> + +<p>The thyroid, however, is essential to normal +development in childhood and later life as well +as at adolescence. In children an insufficient +amount of thyroid secretion produces a state +of arrested development known as cretinism. +Cretins are familiar figures in all feeble-minded +institutions. They are small in stature, +their skin is rough and coarse, their features +are flat and characterless, and their tongues +large and thick. They are awkward, unkempt +and lazy. Mentally they are classified as idiots. +Since the discovery of the active principle of +the thyroid—thyroixin—cretinous children, if +treated early enough, exhibit signs of marked +improvement. They grow, they become more +energetic and their mentality approaches more +nearly to the normal.</p> + +<p>When an insufficiency of thyroid extract occurs +after adolescence, the disease known as +myxedema sets in. Persons afflicted with this +malady show definite and characteristic symptoms. +Their hair begins to fall out, their skin +becomes moist and swollen and they suffer +continually from exhaustion. Most noticeable +of all is a pronounced mental deterioration. +This disease is commonly caused by an abnormal +growth of the tissues surrounding the +thyroid. This enlarged tissue crowds in upon +the gland and causes it to shrink in size. It +cannot under these conditions secrete the +amount of extract necessary to bodily health, +and myxedema results. The disease can be +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_24">[24]</span>helped to some extent by regular doses of +thyroixin and a permanent cure can be effected +by an operation through which the superfluous +tissue is removed and the thyroid allowed once +more to resume its natural size.</p> + +<p>An exophthalmic goiter produces results +which are the exact opposite of those just described. +In this case it is the thyroid gland, +itself, which expands and therefore becomes +hyperactive. The resulting excess in thyroid +secretion causes the victim of the goiter to +become extremely nervous and irritable (in +contrast to the lassitude accompanying cretinism +and myxedema). One of the most striking +symptoms of this disease are the characteristic +bulging, staring eyes. An operation by which +the gland is cut down to its normal size alleviates +the effects of the exophthalmic goiter.</p> + +<p>When we were speaking of the growth of +the skeleton, both in children and in adults, +we noted that although it was influenced by +the thymus, the pineal and the sexual glands, +it was directly caused by another. This growth +controlling organ is the pituitary. An excess +of pituitary secretion in children brings about +a condition known as gigantism. It is a hyperactive +pituitary which is responsible for the +giants to be seen in side shows, and a hypoactive +one which occasions their fellow freaks, +the midgets. An insufficiency of the secretion +of this gland causes pronounced obesity +and an unnatural craving for sweets in adults.</p> + +<p>The pituitary, like most of the other ductless +glands, is also definitely related to the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_25">[25]</span>reproductive organs. If for any reason its development +in a child is retarded, puberty does +not occur. An individual showing eunuchoid +tendencies results.</p> + +<p>An increase in the amount of sugar in the +blood and a superactivity of the entire circulatory +system always follows an injection of +adrenalin. This is given as proof of the fact +that the adrenal glands have a definite control +over the emotions. A brief summary of some +recent investigations will explain this statement. +Cannon of Harvard working with dogs, +and Watson of Johns Hopkins using human +subjects, discovered that the chief characteristics +of the primary emotions, such as fear +and rage, were an increase in blood pressure +and an unusual supply of sugar in the blood. +These two conditions constitute the physiology +of an emotion, whatever its mental correlate +may be. Cannon found further that the adrenals, +as opposed to some of the other ductless +glands, are richly supplied with nerve +fibers. From this and from other experimental +evidence he concluded that impulses from +the brain stimulating the adrenals bring about +the characteristic emotional symptoms. Of +course these glands are not dormant at unemotional +periods but under stress of mental excitement +they become superactive. If the +adrenal is unusually large and consequently +congenitally hyperactive, an emotional state +can be induced by a very mild stimulation. +Consequently persons who possess exceptionally +hard working adrenals can under very ordinary +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_26">[26]</span>conditions become keyed up to a high +pitch of excitement. Their hearts pound +fiercely, their nerves are taut and they are +constantly ready for action. Their digestions +may suffer as a result of most of their energies +being turned away from normal nutritive activities, +but they can accomplish a great deal as +long as their health continues.</p> + +<p>Persons with a deficiency of adrenal secretion +show opposite characteristics. They tire +easily, they are continually depressed and +they take very little interest in life.</p> + +<p>Each gland which we have studied has been +shown to have some connection with sexual +development. The adrenals form no exception +to this rule but their influence in this respect +is even less straightforward than that of the +pituitary and thyroids. This is how Professor +Berman describes the relation between the +adrenal glands and sexual phenomena:</p> + +<p>“In certain disturbances of these glands, +especially when there are tumors, which supply +a massive dose of the secretion to the blood +presumably, peculiar sex phenomena and irregularities +are produced. If the disease be +present in the fetus, taking hold before birth, +and so brought into the world with the child, +there evolves the condition of pseudo-hermaphroditism. +The individual, if a female, presents +to a greater or less extent the external +habits and character of the other sex. So +that she is actually taken for a man, although +the primary sex organs are ovaries, often not +discovered to be such except when examined +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_27">[27]</span>after an operation. How closely such an occurrence +touches upon the problems of sex +inversion and perversion comes at once to +mind.</p> + +<p>“If the processes involving the adrenal cortex +attacks it after birth, the symmetrical correspondence +and harmony of the secondary sex +characters are not affected. But there follows +a curious hastening of the ripening of body +and mind summed up in the word puberty, a +precocious puberty, with the most startling effects. +A little girl of 2, 3, or 4 years of age +perhaps will come to exhibit the growth and +appearance of a girl of 14. She begins to +menstruate, her breasts swell, she shoots up +in height and weight, sprouts the hair distribution +of the adult, and the mentality of the +adolescent, restless, acquiring, doubting emerge. +A tot bewitched into puberty! A boy of six or +seven may suddenly, in the course of a few +weeks or months, become a little man, robust, +rather short and stocky, but moustached, with +the muscular strength and sexual power of a +man and thinking as a man....</p> + +<p>“If the trouble in the adrenal cortex starts +after puberty, phenomena of the same type, but +of a different order, exhibit themselves. A +woman, say in the thirties, becomes thus afflicted. +Slowly or quickly her body will be +covered by an abundant growth of hair, more +or less of a beard and moustache appear upon +the face, her voice will become deep and penetrating, +her muscles will harden, and she will +show a capacity for hard physical labor. Sexually +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_28">[28]</span>she appears to be made over, masculinity +now predominates in her make-up. Virilism is +the name by which the French in particular +have popularized the knowledge of the condition.”</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_29">[29]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="Normal">GLANDS AND NORMAL PERSONALITY</h2> +</div> + + +<p>Most of these cases which have been described, +where one single gland is much too +active or a great deal too sluggish, would be +classified as extreme types of personality. They +are, for the most part, definitely normal. +Primarily because they are so distinctive it +was fairly easy to ascertain just which form +of glandular disorder conditioned which kind +of mental or physical peculiarity. With personalities +which conform more closely to the +norm, the question of specific glandular control +becomes more baffling. Yet when we note +how accurately each specific glandular derangement +is correlated with a definite peculiarity +of personality, it seems highly probable that +slighter variations in individuality may also be +due to differences in the endocrin system. +When we further realize that any one of the +seven glands of internal secretion may be +either a little overactive or a little underactive +while the rest are normal, or that two or three +or four or five glands may be slightly abnormal +in one way or another, it begins to appear as +though this complicated endocrin system may +be responsible for all the lesser variations of +personality as well as those which are more +pronounced.</p> + +<p>An individual whose thyroid is underactive +will be different from an individual whose thyroid +is overactive, and he will be still more +unlike one whose pituitary and adrenals are +also exceptionally forceful. Moreover X-ray +pictures show that when any one gland is +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_30">[30]</span>especially small and unable to grow larger in +order to compensate for its deficiency, some +other gland may expand and in some manner +take over its function. So when we come to +the study of normal personalities the role of +the endocrin system may be much more complex +than it is with the simpler and more distinctive +glandular types. Our knowledge of +the glandular control of the average man is +still far from complete, but, remembering the +striking symptoms of abnormal functioning, we +can discern certain general glandular tendencies +among mainly normal types. We cannot +as yet say that Mr. Smith’s thyroid is one hundred +per cent efficient while his pituitary +works only one half as energetically as it +should and his adrenals twenty per cent actively. +But we can say that from certain physical +or mental traits which Mr. Smith shows his +whole personality is probably dominated by one +or more of his endocrine glands.</p> + +<p>If Mr. Smith is exceptionally tall and the +bones in his face and hands and feet noticeably +large, it is safe to assume that Mr. Smith +has a very forceful pituitary body. Yet, if in +spite of his height, Mr. Smith appears young +for his age, has a smooth boyish face and a +youthful outlook on life, then we may correctly +infer that his thymus has been active +longer than is customary with adults. Mrs. +Smith, too, may seem much younger than her +chronological age would lead one to expect, +and she, also, may have a rudimentary thymus +which is continuing to function. But if, as +opposed to her husband, she is small and +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_31">[31]</span>dainty, we would suppose that her pituitary +is also smaller than his. And if with her doll-baby +stature, she had a still childish mind and +was not particularly energetic, we might further +conclude that her thyroid was not accomplishing +all that it should. If, as she grew +older, she became suddenly nervous and irritable, +it would seem evident that this gland +was suddenly expanding in an attempt to overcome +its earlier deficiencies.</p> + +<p>Mr. and Mrs. Smith might have two children, +a son and a daughter, who while they were +young resembled each other rather closely. But +as they grew older they might seem more and +more different. Perhaps the girl could continue +to grow rapidly after she was twelve +years of age but would still appear childish. +She would still play with her dolls and with +younger children and take no interest in the +activities which normally absorb the attention +of a young girl. Then we would infer that the +thymic tendency which she inherited from both +parents was intensified in her case. If, however, +her other glands were able to overcome +this dominance of the thymus and so allow her +to achieve adolescence, she might still never +become so completely feminine as her mother. +She would never be very interested in boys or +young men, but would be enthusiastic about +athletics and feminist movements. Then it +would be reasonable to assume that her adrenal +glands had taken over the supremacy once held +by the thymus.</p> + +<p>The Smith boy, on the other hand, might mature +rapidly. He would become quiet and +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_32">[32]</span>serious at the age when most boys are still +playing marbles and hooky. His voice would +change and his beard would begin to grow. +In this case we could be certain that either +his thymus or his pineal gland had deserted +him too soon. If he stopped growing at this +time it would indicate that his thymus was +failing him, but if he continued to become +taller and his mind also matured quickly the +evidence would be in favor of an atrophying +pineal. If later in life he suddenly became exceedingly +plump and rather listless, we might +conclude that still another gland was not working +as hard as it might. This time it would +be his pituitary.</p> + +<p>These cases are, of course, merely hypothetic +and it is entirely too much to expect such a +small family to show such divergent types and +so many changes in personality. But it does +indicate how glandular activity can affect the +character and habits of persons who would +not be considered abnormal. And taking the +population as a whole, certain glandular tendencies +do determine definite types of personality. +The slow, stupid, colorless people have +too little thyroid secretion. Those who are +superactive mentally and temperamentally have +a large amount of this extract. The very fat +or very tall people have extraordinary pituitaries. +The energetic, executive types are well +supplied with adrenalin. And most of those +who seem exceptionally youthful long after +they have reached chronological maturity have +had thymuses or pineals which have functioned +longer than is natural in adult life.</p> + + + + +<hr class="chap"> +<div class="tnote"> +<p class="noi tntitle">Transcriber’s Notes:</p> + +<p class="smfont">Punctuation and spelling inaccuracies were silently corrected.</p> + +<p class="smfont">Archaic and variable spelling has been preserved.</p> + +<p class="smfont">Variations in hyphenation and compound words have been preserved.</p> +</div> + +<div style='text-align:center'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 77671 ***</div> +</body> +</html> + diff --git a/77671-h/images/cover.jpg b/77671-h/images/cover.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..1f4c17d --- /dev/null +++ b/77671-h/images/cover.jpg diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6c72794 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This book, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. 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