The doctrine of the internal secretory activity of glands in relation to the pathological anatomy of sundry morbid conditions : diabetes, Addison's disease, myxoedema, cretinism, Graves' disease and acromegaly / by J. George Adami.

  • Adami, J. George (John George), 1862-1926.
Date:
[1897]
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Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The doctrine of the internal secretory activity of glands in relation to the pathological anatomy of sundry morbid conditions : diabetes, Addison's disease, myxoedema, cretinism, Graves' disease and acromegaly / by J. George Adami. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    v.i . 7r THE INTERNAL SECRETORY ACTIVITY OF GLANDS IN RELATION TO THE PATHOLOGICAL ANATOMY OF SUNDRY MORBID CONDITIONS.1 (of diabetes, addison’s and graves’ diseases, myxcedema, cretinism AND ACROMEGALY.) BY J. George Adami, M.A., M.D. Professor of Pathology, McGill University, Montreal. To remove an organ and study the effects of the operation is clearly an exercise in experimental pathology and only secondarily and indi- rectly a physiological investigation, while the greater the precision with which the course and symptoms of any morbid condition are studied, the more the study becomes a matter of science, a matter of pathology rather than of medicine. In other words, asked as a pathologist to enter into this discussion, I find that all other partici- pants have trespassed into pathological territory. This is one of the penalties of sure advance in our common subject: the pathology of yesterday becomes the medicine of to-day, and I might add, the medi- cine of to-day yields place to the surgery of to-morrow. But this being the case, so as not to reiterate, I am impelled to make my con- tribution to this discussion a resume of the results obtained in a branch of pathology which others are not likely to dwell upon. It is in many respects an unsatisfactory branch—a branch capable of testing rather than of originating any theory. I refer to morbid anatomy. I propose, therefore, during the next few minutes, to lay before you what may be gleaned from the post-mortem room bearing upon this subject of internal secretion. But first it is necessary to call your attention to the very narrow limits of the information to be gained from a study of the gross and fine anatomy of diseased organs in this connection. Morbid anatomy alone can tell us singularly little concerning alterations in function. The existence of lesions recognisable to the naked eye or under the microscope may support conclusions reached by other means. It can do little more. We know from experiment 1 Being a contribution to the discussion upon “ Internal Secretions,” at the Tri ennial Medical Congress, Washington, May 5th, 1897.