STUDIES ON THE PITUITARY. II. THE INFLUENCE OF HYPOPHYSECTOMY ON THE RATE OF CARBON-DIOXIDE PRODUCTION IN FROGS

¹ The Animal Breeding Research Department, University of Edinburgh

1. — A method is described by which the rate of exhalation of carbondioxide may be determined in ten or more individual frogs at the same time.

2. — Frogs whose whole pituitary gland has been removed produce less carbon-dioxide in a given time than do normal animals. A high degree of probability is shown to attach to this conclusion despite great individual variation.

3. — Preliminary experiments on frogs whose anterior lobes only have been removed indicate a probable diminution in the rate of their carbondioxide production of the same order.

4. — This series of observations does not suffice to exclude the possibility that these effects may be attributable to indirect concomitants of the extirpation such as changes in tone of the musculature.