In their monograph on Addison's disease, Rowntree and Snell 1 in 1931 summarized the essential features of what was known about the physiology of the adrenal glands as follows: Without discounting the value of studies on extirpation of the gland and on the preparation of glandular extracts, it must be said that the exact physiologic functions of the suprarenal gland in the intact animal are uncertain. Our exact knowledge of the physiology of the suprarenal glands can be expressed in two statements: the cortex of the gland is essential to life, and the medulla of the gland, although apparently not a vital organ, secretes a substance which is normally present in the blood stream and which has powerful pharmacodynamic properties. Of the multitude of other functions which have been suggested, few rest on adequate experimental grounds. They referred the reader wishing to pass critical judgment on much that is written