LIV.—THE RELATION OF THE ENDOCRINE GLANDS TO THE GROWTH AND DISTRIBUTION OF HAIR

Abstract

Within the past thirty years a new field of biology, endocrinology, has been developed, and its growth has been so rapid that its influence is now felt in almost every branch of medicine. Dermatology was perhaps one of the first fields to be affected by this new influence, for even as early as 1893 the results obtained in cases of psoriasis, lupus vulgaris and acute eczema by the internal administration of thyroid extract were reported by Bramwell.¹ Although since that time there has been a continuous and ever increasing interest in the relationships existing between the glands of internal secretion and the skin and its appendages, the information concerning this relationship is still confusing. This is especially true of knowledge concerning the relation of the endocrine glands to the hair, and since the sources of what information there is are widely scattered and in some cases obscure, it is