MYSTERY GLANDS

Hokitika Guardian, 6 May 1920, Page 1

MYSTERY GLANDS

THE NEED FOR RESEARCH. LONDON, March 9,

I he articles on Mr Huxley’s discoveries on the function 0 f the thyriod gland (in the neck) have excited great interest among medical men engaged in research.

“They confirm the belief,” says the ‘‘Spectator,” “Suggested by Professor Arthur Keith, Hunterian Professor at the Royal College of Surgeons, in liis recent paper on the interstitial and other glands, that the biologist and chemist may be on the eve of epochmaking discoveries' as to the nature of life.”

Two other mystery glands of supreme importance have been under investigation for .some time—the suprarenals in the abdomen and the little pineal gland at the base of the brain.

The pineal gland is no bigger that a grain of wheat, yet it has a profound inlluence on the body. When it is removed from young animals these undergo precocious development. Much yet remains to be discovered here, but we know more about the suprarenals. When these glands are diseased the skin becomes darkly coloured, and it is believed that Europeans owe their fairness of skin to some virtue resident in this gland. The famous surgeon, Jolm Hunter, said 150 years ago that the original colour of man’s skin was black. Our present knowledge of the suprarenals supports this view. But they also influence the growth of the body and the formation of racial characteristics.

A great part of our present knowledge of these structures is due to the research work of Professor Baliss and Professor Starling, the world-known physiologists of University College. When we know about their action we will be able to explain many symptoms of disease which are now obscure, and to treat them successfully. Further investigation is therefore of the greatest importance, and money spent on it by the State would be a splendid investment. ' “ MONKEY GLANDS.” NEW YORK, March 9.

The discovery by Mr Julian Huxley regarding the secrets of rejuvenation has secured unrivalled American publicity for Robert George Laws, a retired London stockbroker who arrived here yesterday in the Cedric, claiming to b.o the first person in the world to experience the revivifying effects of “ monkey glands.” Mr Law’s 72 years look 40, and he feels—in his own words—like 20. From his pocket Mr Laws produced for the edification of the reporters a box containing some capsules. He explained that it was quite unnecessary to inject glandular extracts into the spine. A year ago, he said, he was on what was believed to be his deathbed in Kingston Hospital when a Dr. Paul came in and gave him a box containing a hundred capsules made up of “monkey glands.” After taking them regularly for fifteen days ,lie said, he got up, and since then he had made a . complete “return to the land of youth.”