>!on How Steinach Makes People Young GEORGE F. CORNERS REJUVENATION How Steinach Makes People Young Dr. Eugen Steinach Professor of Biology, University of Vienna REJUVENATION How Steinach Makes People Young BY GEORGE F. CORNERS WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY A. S. BLUMGARTEN, M. D. NEW YORK THOMAS SELTZER 1923 Copyright, 1923, by Thomas Seltzer, Inc. All Rights Reserved Printed in the United States of America PREFACE Why Grow Old ? np HE publication of this book needs no explana- A tion. It states in simple language, intelligible to any layman, what is known about Rejuvenation. A discovery that renews youth, even if it may not lengthen life, vitally affects every human being without exception. No man can afford to go on liv- ing without giving serious thought to the subject. My observations are based on a study of Steinach literature, amplified by discussions with Professor Steinach himself, with Dr. Peter Schmidt, his chief German interpreter, with various students of Endo- crinology in the United States, and by personal investigations of the cases of divers persons who were successfully Steinached. Death and vulgarity, remarks Oscar Wilde, are the only things that cannot be explained away. While no living organism can ultimately escape Death, we can at least push back his kingdom. Science has discovered a charm to wean us from the vulgar habit of growing old. Professor Eugen Steinach reveals three major methods of re-energizing the aging organism. Two involve the surgeon’s knife, one uses the mysterious powers imminent in the Xrayj a fourth method, V VI Preface hinted at by Steinach’s associate Kammerer, utilizes heat generated by electricity. Rejuvenation is achieved by revitalizing the glandular system through the gonads or sex glands. The science of bio-chemistry is in its infancy. In time researchers may find other methods of stimu- lating the chemical agents upon which our vitality so largely depends. At present, Steinach’s is the easiest way. Steinach does not disavow the implantation of youthful glands, recommended by Voronoff and others. In fact, he frequently uses the method in his experiments with animals. For women, Steinach prefers the Xray. This method is entirely bloodless. The same method is frequently used in accomplishing the rejuvenation of men. In their case, however, he favors the Steinach operation, a slight, if delicate, incision, remarkable alike for its effectiveness and its simplicity. Medical opinion in his special field seems to con- cede that Steinach’s methods are harmless. If the system fails to respond, at least it suffers no injury. Doctors also seem to agree that the restimulation of the gonads is the best known means of combating arteriosclerosis. Steinach’s methods are likely to upset all calcula- tion of actuaries and economists. If experiments on a large scale verify the conclusions reached by Steinach and his fellow-students, no life insurance policy of the future will be written without making Preface VII rejuvenation obligatory. Dr. Peter Schmidt may not be far from right when he suggests that the re- stimulation of the aging Puberty Gland may be made compulsory for the old, as vaccination is com- pulsory for our children. Rejuvenation is not confined to the animal king- dom. Even a cabbage may be Steinached. Experi- ments have shown that cabbages, lasting two seasons ordinarily, may last five, if their reproductive func- tion is checked by radioactivity. A fascinating chap- ter on the subject remains to be written by a Burbank doing to plants what Steinach does to human beings. Men and women may not reach the age of Methuselah by traveling one of the roads to reju- venation, pointed out in the following pages, but at least they need no longer succumb to the encroach- ments of senility. We need no longer sheepishly accept the ancient formula of old age: “sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.” If the years assail us, we can stand up and fight back. Instead of second childishness, we achieve second youth. Steinach, following the trail blazed, in France by Brown-Sequard, in Germany by Berthold, vouch- safes, under favorable conditions, not only a second blooming, but a third and a fourth. In fact, the vista of springs recalled in autumn seems unlimited. Why wait till winter comes? Why grow ungrace- fully old, when one can stay gracefully young? George F. Corners. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The author desires to express his indebtedness to Prof. Eugen Steinach, of the University of Vienna, to Dr. Peter Schmidt, of Berlin, to Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld, of the Sex Science Insti- tut of Berlin, to Dr. A. S. Blumgarten, of the Lenox Hill Hospital of New York, to Dr. Harry Benjamin, of New York, for valuable suggestions and information; to Hearst newspapers for using material originally contributed to their March of Events section; to The Ufa (Berlin) for reprinting pictures from the Steinach Film, produced by them under the personal supervision of Professor Steinach and a staff of medical experts. VIII CONTENTS PAGE Why Grow Old?: Author's Preface . . v The Problem of Rejuvenation: Introduc- tion by Dr. A. S. Blumgarten . . . . xi CHAPTER I. The Fountain of Youth ... i II. The Most Ancient Convention 5 III. The Endocrine Mystery ... 9 IV. Steinach's Discovery 13 V. Three Roads to Rejuvenation . 17 VI. Male and Female Made to Order 21 VII. Steinach Verifies Weininger . . 25 VIII. The Second Blooming .... 29 IX. Rejuvenating the Rat .... 33 X. Steinach States His Conclusions 38 XI. Steinach’s First Human Experi- ments .... 4i XII. The Secret of Death .... 46 XIII. Economic Aspects of Rejuvena- tion 49 XIV. When to be Steinachid ... 53 IX X Contents CHAPTER PAGE XV. Dr. Schmidt's One Hundred Cases 57 XVI. Unexpected Corroboration . . 63 XVII. Cases and Confirmations ... 68 XVIII. More Cases and Confirmations . 73 XIX. Rejuvenation in Women ... 79 XX. Through the Old Wives' Mill . 84 XXI. Upward and On 89 Steinach Vocabulary 97 Who's Who in Rejuvenation 107 ILLUSTRATIONS Dr. Eugen Steinach Frontispiece Rejuvenated Facing page 42 INTRODUCTION The Problem of Rejuvenation EVERLASTING life, perpetual vigor, eternal youth, and if not eternal, a life of vigor and a life of youth: these have been the aims of reli- gion, the alchemist, the chemist, the philosopher, and the physician. They have formed the themes of poets and philosophers for generations. The prog- ress of modern medicine in the last three or four decades, has removed these efforts from the realm of poetry and philosophy to the laboratory of calm scientific investigation. With the recognition of man’s microscopic ene- mies by modern bacteriology, has come the develop- ment of improved methods for overcoming infec- tious processes, and a better knowledge of hygiene has taught men to prevent the incidence of infec- tions. Metchnikoff and his pupils, as well as numerous other investigators, have pointed out the role of low grade infections originating in the store- house of waste material, the large intestine, or in other parts of the body, in producing the character- istic structural changes of old age. The removal of extrinsic irritants, bacterial or otherwise, and the teaching of rational living, the outcome of medical progress, has resulted, according XI XII Introduction to life insurance statistics, in the prolongation of life by twelve years in the last two decades. With the lengthening of the life span has come a corre- sponding prolongation of the period of vigor and youth. The mechanism, however, for overcoming extrinsic irritants, as well as for adjustment of phys- iologic processes, to an environment not always sympathetic or conserving, lies within man himself. Since life is youth and senility slowly progressing death, the secret of youth is within and the dictum of eternal youth is “Man, know thyself.” While the outward signs of senility are apparent, they do not indicate the underlying body changes of old age. The real evidence of old age, prema- ture or otherwise, is the evidence of structural and functional changes in the various organs of the body, especially the vital ones such as the heart, blood vessels and the kidneys. The maintenance of structural integrity of an organ is determined, among other factors, largely by the degree of nourishment which it receives through its blood supply. This in turn is determined by the width of the blood vessels, which is controlled by the thickness of its walls. As old age progresses, the blood vessels become thickened and the condi- tion of arteriosclerosis or hardening of the arteries results. This thickening may be so extensive as to obliterate the circulation in an organ completely, or it may be only sufficient to limit the amount of blood supplied to the organ. The interference with Introduction XIII the nourishment of an organ causes some of the cells to die thereby diminishing its functional capac- ity. The thickening of the blood vessels may occur early and senility is then premature. If it does not occur until late, old age is retarded. In other words, a man is as old as his arteries. Numerous other factors, besides the vascular changes, such as repeated infections, continued activity, etc. also tend to pro- duce exhaustive changes in organs. The maintenance of functional activity of an or- gan and of the body as a whole, is determined not only by the integrity of its blood vessels but by subtle essential chemical processes which are largely maintained by a series of very important and inter- esting organs, the ductless glands. These glands consist of groups of highly specialized cells that either pour a specific potent substance into the blood stream or modify it in some other way. The most important of these glands are the thyroid gland, situated in the neck, the pituitary gland, situated at the base of the skull, the adrenal gland, situated above the kidneys, the ovaries and the testes. There are other glands in the body which manufac- ture substances which they pour into some other organ through a fine tube or duct. An example of such a gland is the liver and the pancreas and the male sex glands. A number of these glands, in ad- dition to pouring a specific substance through the duct, also produce a specific potent substance which XIV Introduction enters the blood stream and influences other physio- logical processes by this means. It is not my purpose to elaborate on the physiology of the ductless glands, which is exceedingly impor- tant and highly interesting. We know comparatively little about them, but even that little indicates their tremendous importance and value to the human economy, and this knowledge is yet infinitesimal to the secrets of life that these glands probably hold, However, I shall briefly indicate a few striking examples of disturbances of these glands commonly met with in medical practice, to indicate their role in essential life processes. For example, cretinism and myxoedema are conditions characterized essen- tially by sluggishness of all life processes. The individual is slow in his movements, stupid, drowsy, the mentality is very dull, and the skin is dry and scaly. If the patient is a child, growth is interfered with. The chief characteristic of this condition is a retardation of all life processes. This condition has been proven to be due to deficiency of the thyroid gland. On the other hand, a disturbance of this gland occurs in which its secretion is probably poured into the blood stream in excess and the individual becomes highly nervous, excitable, loses weight rap- idly, there is palpitation of the heart, sleeplessness, and emotional instability. In other words, the pro- cess of life is accelerated. Acromegaly is a condition characterized by a Introduction XV sudden stimulation of bony growth due to a dis- turbance of the pituitary gland at the base of the brain. The features become coarse and large. The hands grow unusually large. Such patients suffer from a peculiar headache. A disturbance of this gland may result also in the development of progres- sive obesity of a certain type associated with marked diminution in the genital function. There is ample evidence, experimental and otherwise, to indicate a close inter-relationship in the function of these ductless glands, both antagonistic and sympathetic. The profound changes in growth, development and function, which results from disease of the ductless glands, produces a singular physiognomy and pys- chology. Consequently the rather striking resem- blance of individuals otherwise apparently normal, to patients suffering with such disease, has engen- dered the idea that the difference in individuals and races, physical as well as psychical, may have a basis in the ductless glands. There is no doubt that there is more than a germ of truth in this idea, but it still awaits accurate scientific proof. At any rate, there is no more interesting and stimulating study than the study of the ductless glands, and it is the most fruitful branch of medical research. They hold many secrets of vital processes, many of which have not yet been fathomed. In the realm of practical treatment, the ductless glands have been most fruitful. Most of the spe- cific and potent remedies that have been introduced XVI Introduction into medicine in recent years have been developed from the ductless glands. Adrenalin, a powerful and epoch making remedy, is obtained from the adrenal glands. Thyroid extract, an extract obtained from dried thyroids of sheep and other animals, is a specific remedy for cretinism and myxoedema and the results obtained from it are almost miraculous. Pituitrin, a powerful remedy now so generally used in childbirth,—these have all been the result of re- search on the ductless glands. Within the last year there has been developed Insulin, an extract obtained from the Islands of Langerhans, the part of the pancreas which produces an internal secretion and which is disturbed in diabetes. While not a cure it has proven a remarkable remedy in the treatment of diabetes, enabling the patient to utilize the sugar and fat of his food when he is otherwise unable to do so. If then we believe in mechanistic medicine at all, and every reputable physician does, it seems that the greatest hope of the future in medical treatment lies in the ductless glands, and that the overcoming of illness may be accomplished by the utilization of man’s own powers. This little volume deals with a phase of the physiology of the ductless glands and presents the results of efforts toward rejuvenation by re- adjusting the physiology of specific ductless glands. We may divide the span of life into four periods, —i), the period of infancy and childhood—2), the period of adolescence—3), the period of maximum Introduction XVII functional activity and vigor—4), the period of senescence. Each of these periods is characterized by the domination of specific ductless glands. The first period is characterized by a domination of growth and development. The second is the period of sex awakening. The third is the period of maximum vigor, maximum functional capacity and maximum sex activity, while the last period is characterized by a gradual diminution of vigor and all physiological processes. The importance of the sex glands in the phys- iology of the individual has been known for a long time. The production of eunuchs artificially is an old practice and indeed a religious rite in certain parts of the world. This has offered an opportunity for observing individuals after artificial removal of the sex organs, the process of castration. The phys- ical characteristics indicating the sex, such as the growth of beard, growth of hair on the body, the distribution of fat, the pitch of the voice etc. are all changed under such circumstances. Besides the physical changes there are changes in the singular psychical reactions and there is a loss of initiative, aggression and energy. It was Berthold, a quiet German scientist, who in 1849 first studied the problem of the internal secretions of the sex organs experimentally. He found that he could make the wattles and other physical characteristics of the cock disappear by re- XVIII Introduction moval of the testes, and that when he did so the fighting instinct also disappeared. He found that this was due to a specific substance secreted by the sex organs and not to any nervous factor by severing the nerves of these organs. These experiments have been further studied and much elaborated by Stein- ach in Vienna. Steinach showed that by the removal of the characteristic sex organs and the transplan- tation of the opposite ones, he could change the outward sex characteristics of animals. Steinach further developed the principle that the internal secretion of a gland that has both an outer excretion and an internal secretion, could be intensified when the duct is removed or tied off. Steinach utilized this method of experimentation, not to produce the secondary sex characteristics in animals, but to bring about a profound stimulation of function, with an increase in the physical and psychical vigor which is characteristic of the period of maximum vigor and functional activity. A similar method of experi- mentation was used in the original development of insulin, a remarkable remedy for diabetes. Steinach’s experiments are indeed convincing, and it is only natural after his experimental success, that the methods should be applied practically. The results of this operation must await the verdict of competent observers and it is some of this experience that is here presented. Final judgment of the method must still be withheld. In the practical ap- plication, however, it must be remembered, as I have Introduction XIX previously indicated, that senile changes are due to a diminution of the blood supply as the result of thickening of the blood vessels followed by de- structive changes in the organs and by the stress of life itself, as well as to the subtle chemical processes of the body, in which the. ductless glands play such an important role. The Steinach operation merely stimulates these subtle chemical processes in the sex glands and other ductless glands if the condition of these glands permits such a reaction. The Steinach operation cannot accelerate the life processes of the body or of any of its organs when profound struc- tural degeneration or thickening of blood vessels is already extensive, nor is it always successful even when such changes are absent. The work of Steinach represents a great step for- ward in our efforts to prolong the period of youthful vigor and activity, but it does not solve the problem of rejuvenation. It is merely an indicator of medical progress toward rejuvenation. As Steinach himself has pointed out, we must caution against the pro- miscuous use of this operation lest the hopelessly senile rush to the mechanistic fountain of youth to find it dry. A. S. Blumgarten, M. D. REJUVENATION How Steinach Makes People Young CHAPTER I The Fountain of Youth HAS Steinach succeeded where Ponce de Leon failed? Is the secret of youth hidden in a ductless gland? Is it possible to fling away the bur- den of old age? Can we halt the grim shadow that lies athwart our path? Can man play with Death and win? Can he at least defer the check-mate of the eternal antagonist? No weightier question has ever exercised mankind. What are wars and kings, tariffs and geographical divisions, compared to the most momentous issue of human life? Oedipus faced the Sphinx. All Sons of Adam face Death. Does Professor Eugen Stein- ach bring us the knowledge the serpent promised Eve, that shall make us like gods? It is not possible to answer questions such as these with “yes” or “no.” I place before the reader the result of Steinach’s experiments and researches, as explained by himself and his fellow workers. In doing so it will be necessary to touch upon intimate phases of life. Technical language cannot be alto- gether avoided. I shall make my statements as simple as possible. 1 2 Rejuvenation Steinach claims that he can “arrest within modest limits the process of senility.” His hopes go fur- ther. His experiments with animals seem to prove that it is possible to prolong life itself. Whether or not experience will confirm all his conclusions, his message is the most cheerful that science has sounded in centuries. The quest for youth is as old as the world. In every age men have sought to wrest from nature the elixir of life. Even to-day so profound a thinker as George Bernard Shaw toys with the idea of ex- tending man’s span to three hundred years by exhort- ing the mysterious forces of Selective Evolution. The investigations of the alchemists of the Middle Ages are continued by Twentieth Century science. Jacques Loeb, in the Rockefeller Institute, breeds one hundred generations of flies to test the normal duration of life under specific conditions where neither external accident nor insidious microscopic foes can obscure the issue. By subjecting the insects to low degrees of temperature, he multiplies their span of life. We know that tissue may live indefinitely, that the heart itself may pulsate outside of the body. But bio-chemistry, the chemistry of Life, has not been able to discover an antidote against Death. We can not even retard measurably the process of de- terioration within our own body which is responsible for the phenomenon of old age. We grow old by the poisons we ourselves distil. The Fountain of Youth 3 Even if we succeed in eluding fatal disaster from without and fatal disease from within, we are killed eventually by the toxins in ourselves. The by-pro- ducts of Life are the agents of Death. Hence the world was electrified by the news that Professor Eugen Steinach, physiologist of the Bio- logical Experimental Institute of the Academy of Science in Vienna, had discovered the secret, not of life, but of Rejuvenation. Steinach does not promise to perpetuate life indef- initely, but he provides an antitoxin that checks the progress of old age. What is more, he re-energizes the body. “We cannot,” Professor Steinach remarked to me, “perform the comic opera bouffe of transmuting an old hag into a giddy young damsel. We have dis- covered no hocus-pocus that will turn a senile ancient tottering to the tomb into a fairy prince. But, under certain conditions, we can stretch the span of man’s usefulness, and enable the patient to recapture the raptures, if not the roses of youth. “Whether the Steinach operation actually pro- longs life, we are not, at present, prepared to state, in spite of certain indications pointing in this direc- tion. Scientific workers in many climes must con- tinue to labor before we can venture to draw more definite conclusions. I am a student, not a dreamer. I place my faith solely in the laboratory. I am interested only in those things which I can compel nature to prove to me beyond doubt or cavil.” 4 Rejuvenation Professor Steinach is a comparatively young man. He is regarded by many as the world’s greatest biologist. His reputation does not rest solely upon the so-called “Steinach operation,” but upon many solid contributions to his chosen field. In fact the notoriety which his publication, “Rejuvenation Through the Experimental Revival of the Aging Puberty Gland,” brought to his efforts, a notoriety unsought for by him, has made this quiet scholar the center of venomous controversy, and created enemies where formerly he had only admirers. CHAPTER II The Most Ancient Convention STEINACH is not a fighter. He prefers the la- boratory to the arena. He is mild and restrained both in manner and speech. His very beard accen- tuates the gentleness of his features. He shrinks from publicity. He refuses all interviews. Professor Steinach talked frankly to me because he felt that I was a seeker after truth who desired knowledge for its own sake, not for its sensational exploitation. He knew that before I came to him, I had discussed the topic with the leading medical men and students of biology in the United States and in Europe. Both in his studies and in his ex- planations, he is aided by Mrs. Steinach, his most able interpreter. “I believe,” Steinach remarked, “that many of my critics object to the term ‘rejuvenation.’ If I had called my book ‘Reflections on Senescence in Aging Rodents,’ there would have been no objection. If I had dealt with the physiological structure of the left wing of the grasshopper, my efforts would have been highly appreciated. But to deal with phe- nomena of sex and to apply the knowledge gained 5 6 Rejuvenation from experiments with animals to human beings, seems to be an unforgivable sin. “However, my offence was even greater. For millions of years all men have grown old and laid them down to die at the right time. To disturb this condition, is to be marked a rebel, against the most ancient of all conventions. Even if I upset cherished notions, is it not better to investigate my conclusions than to quarrel with them?” “Perhaps,” I remarked, “you should console your- self with Heine’s observation that since Pythagoras slaughtered one hundred oxen to celebrate his dis- covery that the square of the hypothenuse equals the sum of the squares of the other two sides of a triangle, every bovine in the world trembles with fear every time a new truth is discovered?” Many physicians who disagree with the Steinach theory, nevertheless perform his operation. Ponce de Leon came to the coast of Florida to discover the secret of Youth. To-day many who dwell in the New World, reversing his process, seek the Foun- tain of Youth in Steinach’s Old World Laboratory. Steinach made the remarkable discovery that the Fountain of Youth, for which men have scoured five continents in vain, is not without, but within us. Visitors will find the celebrated biologist ready to explain his theory, but they will note with amaze- ment that his laboratory is bare. Steinach is a scholar before he is a surgeon. While he pursues his studies, others reap the financial harvest by performing his The Most Ancient Convention 7 operation. He himself operates rarely. If he were prepared to devote his time to practice, he would be a wealthy man. The proof of Steinach’s honesty is the paucity of his means. The demoralization of Austrian currency makes it impossible for Professor Steinach to go on with his work. He cannot buy the rats and guinea pigs needed for his experiments. If he could pur- chase the animals, he could not supply them with food, nor could he pay for the services of an attend- ant. Thus the great scholar, bearing in his hands the gift of youth and life, is condemned to halt his investigations. No Rockefeller steps forth to endow him. However, everywhere in the world men are con- ducting researches based on his findings. “At least,” Professor Steinach remarks, “I have the satisfaction that my humble efforts give a new impulse to science. Oculists, surgeons, pathologists, veterinaries, biolo- gists and zoologists, are stimulated in their own field by my investigations. In Denmark, in Spain, in France, in Germany, in England, in Esthonia, in the United States, there are men who verify my con- clusions and continue my work.” Benjamin, Chetwood, Hirschfeld, Kammerer, Lichtenstern, Lipschutz, Lydston, Morgan, Sand, Schmidt, are a few of those who must be named in this connection. The greatest writers of fiction have not per- mitted the subject to escape them. Several German 8 Rejuvenation novelists have dealt with the problems of rejuvena- tion. Gertrude Atherton has made it the theme of her novel “Black Oxen.” The ancient fairy tale of the “The Old Wives’ Mill” tells us a story that intrigues the imagination. The man who sends his elderly spouse to this magic establishment receives her back a young woman. The lady who visits the supernatural beauty parlor is revamped, that she may “vamp” again. Professor Steinach provides a Mill for Old Hus- bands 5 also, it must be added, a Mill for Old Wives. However, the Mill for Old Husbands works more smoothly than the Mill for Old Wives. Steinach can rejuvenate woman, but the method is simpler in man. The reason for this may be the superiority of the gentler sex, for it is a well known fact that the lower we descend in the scale of animal life, the more easily nature repairs deteriorated tissue. . . CHAPTER III The Endocrine Mystery TO understand the Steinach theory, we must familiarize ourselves with the importance of the endocrine system. We are what our glands make us. Man is as young as his glands. He is, in fact, the slave of his glands. This materialistic creed is summarized in the following epigrammatic lines by an American poet: No fuffet master fulls the string on high, Portioning the farts y the tinsel and, the faint, A twisted nervey some ganglion gone awry y Predestinates the sinner and the saint. Many held more firmly than with hemfen hand, Slave of his entrails, struts across the scene’. The malnutrition of some obscure gland, Makes him a Riffer or the Nazarene. Modern science teaches us that the growth of our body, the process of metabolism, the shape of our bones, the rate of oxydation, the function of the digestive system, the tone of our nervous system, the action of our brain, are influenced to a large extent by our glands. 9 Rejuvenation 10 These facts are vividly impressed upon us by a visit to the Lenox Hill Hospital which has inaugu- rated the first endocrine clinic in New York, for patients suffering from disturbances of the glandular system, from migraine to diabetes, under the aus- pices of Dr. A. S. Blumgarten whose distinguished textbooks on medicine, well-known to the English speaking world, have recently been translated into the tongue of Confucius. The most mysterious of all are the ductless glands. They are like the strange dark Mothers of Life, un- fathomable even to the gods, of whom Goethe speaks in his Faust. The Thyroid gland, for instance, holds a curious relationship to our intelligence. A child, suffering from thyroidal insufficiency, is certain to be sleepy and dull. Where the thyroid is entirely absent, na- ture produces a peculiar type of idiot. Idiocy of this type can be cured by supplying the system with the extract of the thyroid gland. The moment this extract is withheld, the old condition returns. The thyroid controls also the rate of growth. Dr. Edward Uhlenhut, of the Rockefeller Institute, arbitrarily breeds monstrously large or preposter- ously minute salamanders, by increasing or diminish- ing in various proportions the supply of thyroid and pituitary. The Pituitary, a lump of tissue no larger than a pea, located in the skull is described by Dr. Louis Berman in his book, “The Glands Regulating Per- The Endocrine Mystery sonality,” as the “regulator of organic rhythm.” The Thymus, the Pancreas, the Pineal, the Adrenals, each of these, has its specific function or functions. The importance of such glands, as the kidneys, the sweat and the salivary glands, is too well known to be recited here. These glands have “ducts,” channels through which their secretions flow. Fin- ally, there are “mixed glands,” glands which possess visible ducts and at the same time pour certain secre- tions into the blood through invisible channels. Such glands are the Pancreas and the Sex Glands, or Gonads. Possessing canals for conducting reproductive matter to the surface, they are organs of external secretion. But they possess another function, no less important than the creation of reproductive corpus- cles, which occupies itself with the internal chemis- try of sex. The ductless gland, located in the “interstices” or “spaces between” the cells of the Reproductive Gland, is called the Puberty Gland by Steinach. It is also frequently designated Interstitial Gland. The Puberty or Interstitial Gland is Steinach’s Fountain of Youth. It was described by two French writers, Bouin and Ancell, in 1903. It was Steinach who first demonstrated its vital importance experimentally. The Interstitial tissue is composed of Interstitial Cells, first seen by Leydig, sometimes called “Leydig Cells” after their discoverer, and of Sertoli cells. These cells produce the internal sex 11 12 Rejuvenation secretion or gonadal hormone. “Hormone” is the name given to internal secretions. It is derived from the Greek word meaning to “rouse.” Hormones are described as “chemical messengers, telegraph boys, sent from one organ to another through the public highway, the blood.” Whereas the Reproductive Gland insures the per- petuity of the Race, the Puberty or Interstitial Gland establishes endocrine and psycho-physical balance. Either directly or through its reaction on other glands, the Puberty Gland determines the masculine or feminine characteristics of an individual, the strength and direction of his sex impulse, and, to a certain extent, the tone of the entire system. The very name bestowed by Steinach upon the gland indicates its function. A decrease in its secretion is believed to be the primary cause of old age. CHAPTER IV Steinach’s Discovery STEINACH discovered that it is possible to stim- ulate the Puberty Gland at the expense of the Reproductive Gland. The Gonad, or Sex Gland, we remember, is composed of both. If we paralyze its reproductive function by severing the duct of the gland of external secretion, the Puberty Gland, its organ of internal secretion, tends to “proliferate” and expand. The cells of the Reproductive Gland, being denied an outlet, shrivel up or “atrophy.” Nature abhor- ing a vacuum, their place is taken by the Puberty Gland. Increasing in size, it pours large amounts of its secretion into the blood with the result of bringing about what is sometimes described as a second blossoming, a new Puberty. The success of the operation depends upon the reaction of the entire endocrine system to the new stimulus. The duct of the Reproductive Gland is called the vas deferens. Every man has two such ducts, one from each testicle, leading to the external organ of generation. The removal of a portion of the vas deferens 13 14 Rejuvenation is called vasectomy. The constriction or strangula- tion of the vas deferens is called vaso-ligature. A combination of both constitutes the famous Steinach operation. In other words the Steinach operation turns the sex gland from a mixed into a ductless gland, in order to stimulate its internal secretion. Dr. Banting’s cure for Diabetes is based on the same principle as the Steinach operation. The Pan- creas, like the Gonad, is a mixed Gland. In order to stimulate the Insulin, its internal secretion, its duct is severed or blocked by the surgeon. Steinach, to cite one of his chief American expo- nents, Dr. Harry Benjamin, of New York, gives the patient a more or less massive and continuous dose of his own gonadal hormone instead of the hormone of another human being or of a monkey. The Stein- ach operation has nothing in common with the trans- planation of monkey glands advocated by Voronoff. The operation does not, as many persons believe, render the male sterile, if performed unilaterally. It merely blocks the passage of the life-giving element, the spermatozoa, from one testicle. The testicle remains unchanged in appearance. Unable to discharge its external secretion, it accelerates the output of its internal secretion, the gonadal hormone. If the operation is performed on both sides, need- less to say, sterility results, because the passage of the life-giving element is entirely blocked. This element forms, however, only a small part of the fluid ejaculated. The secretions of several other Steinach*s Discovery 15 glands, especially the prostate, enter into the com- position of the sexual discharge. The Steinach operation does not interfere with potency or sexual enjoyment. In fact both may be marvelously intensified. It merely interferes with the passage of the spermatozoa. The man who un- dergoes the Steinach operation bilaterally, while renouncing fatherhood, still retains every attribute of masculinity. No one can tell that he has been Steinached, unless he himself gives away the secret. He may still be a Don Juan. In fact, it has been noted that the Don Juan type, like its feminine counterpart, is frequently sterile. The man who undergoes the operation on one side only, renounces nothing. His generative power is favorably affected. Such, at least, has been the observation in animals. The stimulation given to the entire system increases the production of both sex hormones and spermatozoa. Much depends on the skill of the surgeon who, in severing the duct, must be careful not to mutilate the numerous vesicles and nerves, carriers of blood and sensation, which abound in the spermatic cord. An inadequate technique, blunderingly applying the knife, may offset the stimulating effect of the opera- tion. Bilateral vasectomy is the method prescribed in several states for the sterilization of criminals. The operation is not feasible in women, owing to differences in their anatomical structure. It would be disheartening, indeed, if rejuvenation 16 Rejuvenation were confined to the male, if the Wandering Jew, renewing his youth, could not find a Wandering Jewess j if the Helen of Troy and the Blonde Marguerite of the future were compelled to join that chorus of aged sweethearts Eves of an hundred years Upon whose brow God's dreadful finger lies, depicted by Baudelaire, while their mates, the Paris and the Faust of the Twentieth Century, were hav- ing a new fling at life! CHAPTER V Three Roads to Rejuvenation FORTUNATELY, the Steinach operation is not the only road to rejuvenation. There are, Steinach explained to me, two other methods to accomplish the same result, used successfully on both men and women. The first involves the im- plantation, wholly or in part, of the sex glands of another human being or of an animal. The implanted organ is placed between the muscle of the abdomen and the peritoneum. After the wound has healed, it is invisible to the eye. The drawback of this method in the case of human beings is the fact that the tissue in question is rarely avail- able. Sensational stories have gained circulation of mil- lionaires paying fabulous sums for obtaining the glands of a healthy young person. One case has come to my attention where a wealthy German paid one million marks, before the collapse of the mark, to achieve his object. Gilles de Retz, protector of Jeanne d’Arc and Marshal of France, the original Bluebeard, mur- dered hundreds of children for the purpose of seal- 17 18 Rejuvenation ing his pact with the Devil. Wherever the Marshal resided, the children of the neighborhood dis- appeared. It is by no means inconceivable that some Gilles de Retz of to-day may leave a trail of victims behind him in order to secure his own rejuvena- tion. The implantation method has other disadvantages. There is no guarantee that the alien tissue can be successfully ingrafted. It may be absorbed without taking root in the organism. The difficulty is en- hanced if we attempt to borrow the glands needed for the operation from another species, even if, Mr. Bryan to the contrary notwithstanding, it is as closely related to us as the ape. The second method applicable to both sexes, in- volves the use of the Xray. It is possible, Professor Steinach informed me, to cause the sensitive Repro- ductive Gland to atrophy under the Xray, while leaving the sturdier Interstitial or Puberty Gland, common to both sexes, intact. Here, as in the case of the Steinach operation, proliferation of the Puberty Gland ensues. If the reproductive tissue is damaged irreparably, complete sterility results. The operation cannot be repeated. That seems to be the experience of Mrs. Atherton’s heroine in “Black Oxen.” Greater medical skill and a more dexterous use of the Xray can attain more favorable results. If, as the experiments of J. Kyrle, of Vienna, on dogs have shown, the Reproductive Gland is not completely Three Roads to Rejuvenation 19 destroyed, the entire Gonad reconstitutes itself eventually. The operation, under such conditions, does not render the patient incapable of parenthood. The treatment may be repeated a second and a third time. In fact, theoretically, there is no reason why the cycle should not be repeated indefinitely. The Xray method requires complicated machin- ery, frequent treatment, and a masterly physician who, almost intuitively, regulates the strength of the Xray in accordance with the needs of the patient. In other words, the physician must work in the dark. Nevertheless, remarkable results have been obtained by this method. To recapitulate: The Interstitial or Puberty Gland, which de- termines in a large degree the youthfulness of an organism, may be stimulated by three methods: One: Vasectomy combined with vasoligature (the Steinach operation). Two: The implantation of the Gonad, or sex gland of another being, human or animal. Three: The application of Xrays. Paul Kammerer, the noted biologist, who con- ducted many experiments in common with Steinach, indicates a fourth method: Heat. He recalls the fact that hot climates accelerate puberty, that South- erners are more passionate than those born under colder stars, and that the effect of travel in the tropics on the passions is marked. Various experiments on animals convince him that 20 Rejuvenation heat stimulates the Interstitial Tissue. Local ap- plication of heat by electricity, either alone, or in combination with the Xray, will no doubt, constitute part of the technique of rejuvenation. Clinical material on this phase of the subject is lacking. For the present, the three main methods outlined, must suffice. The first method is practically limited to men. The second and third methods are applicable to either sex. The fourth method, suggested by Kam- merer, is indicated especially in the treatment of women, i \ CHAPTER VI Males and Females Made to Order f srTIHE idea of rejuvenating the organism by stim- A ulating the Puberty Gland did not,” Steinach remarked, “leap from my brain full-fledged like Pallas Athena from the head of Jove. It developed logically, step by step, from my work.” Asked to retrace these steps in broad outlines, the great biologist summarized the remarkable experi- ments which led him inevitably to his conclusion. The first step was the Permanent Transplantation of Gonads. The animal was emasculated, and the sex gland grafted upon another portion of his anat- omy, usually, but not necessarily, in the abdominal region. In the new location, the Reproductive Gland was unable to function. Nevertheless, the animal did not become an eunuch in appearance or action. This proved that the sexual development both of the organs and of the brain, and their “erotization,” does not depend on the function of the Reproductive Gland, but on the chemicals with which the hormones of the Puberty Gland are charged. Sex, in other words is determined not by the reproductive tissues, but by the gland of internal secretion. 21 22 Rejuvenation The second step was an arbitrary experiment in Masculinization and Feminization. It was necessary to determine if the Puberty Gland possessed a speci- fic sex, if it made a difference, whether the male or the female principle was at work. It appears that there is a gland for each sex, each entrusted with its own and specific task. If after castration, a female gland is transplanted upon a male, or reversely, a complete transformation of the original sex character of the animal takes place. It is possible to manufacture males and females to order. Steinach succeeded in causing lactation in the male guinea pig by implanting a female gland upon its body after emasculation. Females thus made to order actually nursed the young. They are females in every respect, save one. Similarly, female guinea pigs are converted into males after their own sex glands are eradicated. In some instances, Steinach discovered a tendency on the part of the animal to adopt not merely the character- istic aggressive attitude of the male, but its external sex characteristics. The clitoris approximates the ap- pearance of the male organ of generation. The third step was Artificial Hermaphrodization. If both a male and female gland are implanted upon an infantile organism or a castrated animal, an experimental hermaphrodite is produced. Both the appearance and direction of the sex instinct of the animal is bi-sexual. Males and Females Made to Order The fourth step was the practical application of the knowledge acquired. A. Curing results of castration due to accident or disease (i. e. tuberculosis) by the permanent implan- tation of healthy gonads. The patient is no longer a eunuch, even if science cannot restore the power of procreation. B. Operative treatment of inborn sex inversion. Where the sex impulse does not coincide with the external characteristics of sex, it is obvious that the Puberty Gland functions inversely. We have the case of a man not with a feminine soul but with a feminine Puberty Gland. This condition has been remedied in several in- stances by the implantation of masculine gonads. The operation, to be successful, should be followed, as a rule, by psycho-analysis, in order to correct acquired mental “complexes.” C. Experimental Rejuvenation or Regeneration. In the castrate, the Puberty Gland is absent. In the infantile organism, it is undeveloped. The aging organism reveals retro-development of the gland. These three conditions are largely identical. Nature develops the Puberty Gland in the infant. Science, in a measure, restores the emasculated individual to manhood. Such being the case, it should be equally possible for science to stimulate the aging Puberty Gland. Once Steinach reached this conclusion, all that remained was to discover the method. He ascer- 23 24 Rejuvenation tained that most phenomena of old age both in animals and in human beings are accompanied by the retrogression of the Puberty Gland. He also noted that the stimulation of the Puberty Gland, in a large number of cases, affected the entire endocrine system, restoring the appearance and the instincts of youth. In many animals, it restored likewise the power of procreation. This is true not only of rodents, but of larger animals, like horses and dogs. Stcinach’s data in- clude among others, the case of a she-goat, in which, after complete cessation of all sex functions for years, he restored both maternity and lactation. CHAPTER VII Steinach Verifies Weininger WHAT is more evanescent than youth? Yet, Steinach and with him other biologists of dis- tinction, hold that youth is a measurable quantity. A boy’s will may be the wind’s will. Nevertheless, the degree of youthfulness existing in his body can be measured by dynamometers and proved conclu- sively by chemical agents. In demonstrating this theory, Professor Steinach explains not merely the secret of youth, but also the grim secret of death. Steinach, by spurring the Puberty Gland into action, puts Omar Khayyam to shame. One thing is certain and the rest is lies The flower that once has blown forever dies says the poet. Steinach, however, reveals to us that science recalls vanished blossoms and perished springs. The Moving Finger writes, and having writ} Moves on: nor all your Piety and Wit Shall lure it back to cancel half a line. Yet, Steinach’s method undertakes to cancel all the 25 26 Rejuvenation lines the Moving Finger writes upon the face of man. It restores resiliency to the hardened arteries and to the muscles, invigorates metabolism, improves both the memory and the vision, makes hair sprout again from bald heads, and turns the old man’s fancy not always lightly to the thoughts that engaged him in the springtime of life. It must be repeated that Steinach is a serious scholar, professor at a great university and head of a distinguished institution. His results are no more subversive of accepted standards than wireless teleg- raphy and radium. I cannot reiterate with too much emphasis Stein- ach’s own statements to me: “I have discovered no cure-all, nor am I conducting a beauty parlor. Fa- vorable results are not obtained in all cases. Suc- cess depends upon a number of circumstances and conditions, all of which are not yet completely un- derstood. In fact, we are only at the threshold of the new science of rejuvenation.” Over ten years ago, Professor Steinach first made the statement that “in mammals, the phenomena of puberty and of sexual development, both psychic- ally and physiologically, are dominated by the action of the hormones secreted by the Interstitial or Pu- berty Gland.” He explained that the hormones in question are “specifically male or female, each pro- ducing characteristically characteristic phenomena of its own.” The male Puberty Gland induces masculine man- Steinach Verifies Weininger 27 ifestations and inhibits feminine manifestations. Reversely the feminine activates femininity and inhibits the masculine element. This is called “the antagonism of the sex hormones.” Where the pu- berty gland is mixed, bi-sexuality results. If the feminine principle predominates the indi- vidual, irrespective of the external attributes of sex, will be predominantly feminine. If the masculine principle prevails, the individual will be predom- inantly masculine. If differentiation is incomplete, hermaphrodism takes place. Either element pre- dominates according to the activity of the hormones in question.' Professor Steinach verified through his experi- ments the theories of that eccentric young genius Otto Weininger, who died by his own hand after giving to the world, “Sex and Character,” a book that carried his fame like a blaze from land to land. According to Weininger, no human being is wholly male or female. The 100% male or female exists only in the limbo of theory. Any individual, A or B, is never to be designated merely as a man or a woman, but by a formula show- ing that it is a composite of male and female charac- ters in different proportions, for instance: . _ a M (ale) a’ F (emale) R_b F (emale) a ~b’ M (ale) 28 Rejuvenation Each of the factors a, a’, b, b’ must be greater than zero and less than unity. Weininger demonstrated his theory philosophi- cally, but admitted that it was not susceptible of lab- oratory proof. Steinach’s experiments reveal that physiology confirms Otto Weininger’s speculative deduction. If, Professor Steinach asserts, the complete male sex gland is removed, we create a eunuch. If the sex gland is re-implanted with the consequent shrinking of the Reproductive Gland, accompanied by an in- crease in the secretions of the Puberty Gland, we restore not merely the original masculine character, but induce an increased masculine eroticism or “hy- per-masculinization.” In the female, under similar conditions, we produce “hyper-feminization.” The difference in the behavior and in the appear- ance of the castrated and the restored animal, illus- trates the influence of the Puberty Gland. If, Professor Steinach explains, the sex gland or gonad is transplanted incompletely, the sex charac- ters are only incompletely developed. The same occurs if it is improperly ingrafted. If the gonads are subsequently or partially removed, a retro-de- velopment takes place. The male loses its male, the female its feminine, qualities. The animal again approximates the neuter. CHAPTER VIII The Second Blooming THERE is a mathematical proportion between the mass or activity of the secreting tissue and its effect on the development of the individual. Com- plete sexual development with adequate secretions of the Puberty Gland is attended invariably by youthful vigor. Inasmuch as the rising or the falling curve of life is dominated largely by the Puberty Gland, Steinach concluded that it was possible to arrest the process of deterioration by rejuvenating the Puberty Gland once, or more often, in the same individual. Professor Steinach delayed publication of his theory in any form that was accessible to the lay public for several years, but every tenet of his theory is already contained in a communication deposited in 1912 at the Academy of Sciences in Vienna. He did not wish to publish his finding until his data were more complete. Above all, he did not wish to arouse false hopes. I have already pointed out the three methods by which Steinach induces a second blooming of the Puberty Gland. The simplest of these, the Steinach 29 30 Rejuvenation operation so-called, has been performed many times in the last few years in Central Europe by Lichten- stein, Schmidt, etc., in Denmark by Sand; in Japan by Sakakij in Chili by Wilhelm j in the U. S. A. notably by Benjamin, Wolbarst, and Chetwood, in New York, by Vecki in San Francisco and Lespinasse in Chicago. Present indications show that the effect of the uni- lateral operation lasts at least five years under normal conditions. After five years, a second renascance may be induced by repeating the opera- tion. Hitherto it was restricted to two successive operations on the same individual. Professor Steinach, however, has discovered a new method by which the operation may be repeated several times. After that another period of reju- venation may be induced by implantation, if the other organs of the body are sufficiently sound to undergo the strain. The operation itself takes only a few minutes, and requires hardly more than three days in the hospital. The most favorable time for the Steinach operation is the beginning of arteriosclerosis. If President Harding had undergone the Steinach operation in time, he would probably not have succumbed to apoplexy. Steinach, in all likelihood, could have saved Roosevelt from death, Wilson from the stroke of paralysis that put an end to his political career. There are, of course, many conditions and cir- cumstances that may make the operation inadvisable. The Second Blooming 31 Again it may be advisable at a much earlier date. I myself, was present at an operation performed on a young man of twenty-seven and I obtained valuable data from another young man who had been success- fully Steinached at the age of thirty-four. The rat {mus decumanus) is the animal selected by Steinach for his experimental purposes. The cages, he explains, were so arranged that the animals were under constant supervision. No expression of tem- perament, no variation in behavior, escaped his watchful eye. Professor Steinach felt a personal attachment for some of the animals. He gave them names, and I hear from others that he actually shed tears when lack of food compelled him to kill them. The young male rat is exceedingly aggressive and responds with phenomenal alacrity to the female of his species. The senile rat manifests a mild in- terest only and before long feminine attractions cease to exist for him altogether. Even food no longer allures him. His combativeness vanishes. His hair falls out in spots. His teeth lengthen. He loses weight. His eyesight is impaired. In fact, he frequently suffers from cataract. His muscles and intestines are dry, his body shrivels. Even inquisitiveness, the last vice of old age, deserts him. The average age of the rat, Professor Steinach declares, is from twenty-eight to thirty months. Be- tween the ages of twenty-one to twenty-seven 32 Rejuvenation months, he is ready for Steinach. His loss of weight and other symptoms of old age are carefully chroni- cled. It is noted that he ceases to take an interest in his personal appearance. Dirty, unlicked, indif- ferent, he awaits Death with half closed eyes. His appetites are tested. A piece of bacon is placed in his cage at a point where he must climb or leap in order to appease his hunger. After a futile attempt, he reconciles himself to starvation. A female rodent, in all the glory of young rat- hood, is introduced. He sniffs at her, and shuffles away. A young buck enters, bristling with aggressiveness. The old rat pays no attention to him. If attacked, he is too proud to fight. He is indeed a “goner.” Here, however, Providence in the shape of Dr. Steinach intervenes. The aged rat, it seems, may be down, but he is not out. Steinach performs his operation and, if no complications ensue, the rat, like Jess Willard, comes back. CHAPTER IX Rejuvenating the Rat STEINACH reports the case of Scheck, an un- fortunate senile rat, Steinached bi-laterally, February 4th, at the age of twenty-three months, equivalent to sixty years of a human being. The age is counted in months. I omit technical clinical de- tails. On the 22nd of February, a number of important physiological changes are noted, including a new growth of hair, an increase in weight of 40 grams, revived interest in food and female rats, playfulness, in short renewed zest for life. Three days later, our senescent rat, no longer senile, chooses a new soul mate, after polishing his fur to make himself more attractive. On the first of March, Scheck engages in duel with a young buck rat. On the third, he adds a number of affinities to his harem. On the 6th, his weight is 60 grams more than before the fateful inci- sion. He appears to be extraordinarily voracious. His conduct is increasingly scandalous on the seventh and eighth. By the thirteenth his fur is clean and glossy, with 33 34 Rejuvenation snow white specks. On the twentieth he is subjected to a new operation in order to enable the Professor to examine his insides. The anatomical picture coin- cides with his behavior. A week later the wound is healed. On the tenth of May, he makes the impression of a young rat. He goes after the bacon. He aggressively attacks his rivals, attempts to throw over his cage and may be described as the Neighborhood Terror. On the first of July, his conduct is unchanged. On the 14th of September his breathing apparatus seems to be awry. On the 24th he dies. The autopsy reveals suppuration of the lungs. His glandular system, however, is in perfect con- dition. The operation has given him seven months of renewed youthfulness organically and function- ally. He lived eight months after the operation, dying at the age of thirty-one, one to three months after his allotted time, corresponding to a ripe old age in a human being. The second patient, Albino, was less fortunate. His interest in the fairer sex did not progress beyond mild flirtations. Foreseeing his fate, he eschewed matrimony. His fur was restored, his muscular system improved, but a few months later, he was found dead in his cage. The post mortem disclosed that Albino suffered from tapeworms. The next test was made with three brothers at the age of twenty-seven. In October all three had ceased to be either Romeos or romantic. Their throats and Rejuvenating the Rat 35 necks were devoid of hair. They showed every manifestation of extreme senility. No operation was performed on the first of the brothers who died only one month later from senile degeneration. In the case of Brother Rat No. 2, the operation is successful, but the patient dies two months later under the knife to be perpetuated as an anatomical preparation. In the preceding two months, he put on fat, improved in appearance, both externally and internally, and developed the proclivities of a Don Juan. This is also true of Brother Rat No. 3: only more so. At the age of thirty-six, No. 3 developed lung trouble, and was expedited into a better world. He lived ten months longer than any exemplar of the same brood, eight months beyond the average age. For among rats, thirty months is equivalent to the biblical age in man. Here, as Professor Steinach pointed out to me, we have an instance where the operation not merely completely rejuvenated the patient, but added twenty-five per cent to the duration of his life. Weiss, another remarkable rodent, suffered from premature senility. The operation was performed unilaterally. Fifteen days later he was a candidate for matrimony. One month, eleven days after the operation, he is the proud father of a sextet of stal- wart young rats. He dies, however, two and one half months after the operation from intestinal trouble. 36 Rejuvenation In the cases so far summarized Professor Steinach relies mainly upon the physiological reserve of the animal itself. This method he calls “autoplastic.” When, however, the resources of the individual are exhausted, it may be necessary or desirable to ingraft upon him the organs of a youthful animal of the same species. This method Professor Steinach des- ignates as “the homoplastic remedy against old age.” It is possible to use both methods successively. The result in either case is the same. We are thus able, at least in theory, to multiply the period of youthful vigor almost indefinitely, if the brain and the heart and other organs affected are able to withstand the strain. Lydston, Kreuzer, Muehsam, Lichtenstern, Voronoff and others have applied the homoplastic method in the case of human beings successfully. The aged female rat shows the same lethargy, the same loss of hair and personal cleanliness as the male. If placed in a cage with a male, the latter contemptuously disregards her. Evidently the male rat prefers the debutante. Jointly with Dr. Holzknecht, Steinach stimulated the Puberty Gland of the female rat by discreet ap- plications of the Xray. The result was startling. The homoplastic method, the implantation of the gonads of young female rats upon elderly females, induced equally remarkable changes. The first female tested was the mate of Weiss, a male rat successfully Steinached. At the age of Rejuvenating the Rat 37 twenty-six, the complete gonads of a four months old female were implanted according to Steinach’s method. Twelve days later it is apparent that the male population of ratdom takes a renewed interest In Mrs. Weiss. This increases from day to day. She, like Mrs. Atherton’s heroine, remains coy at first. Nevertheless, as her fur waxes rich and glossy, her amorous propensity is aroused. She is inquisitive, mobile, flirtatious. Forty-three days after the operation, Professor Steinach assigns a permanent mate to her. She is now, if we ascribe the corresponding human age to her, a woman of sixty-eight. Three months after the operation she whispers a tender secret into the ears of her mate. She starts building a nest. One week later she presents him with a quintet. She insists upon nursing her sound and vigorous brood. She retains her youthful appearance, until her death at the age of thirty-six and one half, cor- responding to a human being of eighty-four. Several other cases reported are equally successful. CHAPTER X Steinach States H is Conclusions THE results of the Steinach operation seems to be negative, only in cases where the process of senile decay is too far advanced, or where infection or illness intervenes immediately after the operation. Under favorable conditions, old age is retarded, virility restored, and the normal period of life ap- preciably prolonged. Professor Steinach’s conclu- sions, based upon a large number of experiments, may be summarized briefly as follows: i. Vasoligature stimulates the Puberty Gland. Within a few weeks after the operation, the renewed Puberty Gland produces a second puberty followed by second manhood. 2. In the same period the gland of external secretion atrophies, proving the superior importance of the gland of internal secretion, the Puberty Gland. 3. The renewed Puberty Gland acts in the same way as the transplanted gland. In either case, the system is “eroticized,” a condition of hyper-mascu- linization is frequently noted. 4. There is a noticeable increase in the growth 38 Steinach States His Conclusions 39 of hair, muscular power, the rebuilding of tissue, etc. 5. Food is utilized by the organism again for the purpose of reconstruction and growth. Meta- bolism measurably increases. Fatigue and dullness are no longer in evidence. The sex instinct is accen- tuated. 6. The changes that occur are too many to be caused solely by the action of the Puberty Gland. Many effects can only be explained by the reaction of the sex hormones upon other glands. The glands, as an American student of endo- crinology, Dr. Louis Berman aptly remarks, form “an interlocking directorate” for the control of the organism. Several biological students have noted changes in the microscopic structure of the pituitary and other glands of animals subjected to the Stein- ach operation. 7. The primary effect of the operation is the increase of the Puberty Gland and the atrophy of the Reproductive Gland. This is followed by a restitution of other organs and functions. This restitution extends in the end to the Reproductive Gland. 8. Experiments on senile animals prove that the life time of tissue as such is not limited. If the senile tissues receive new stimuli from the organs of internal secretion, they are susceptible of regenera- tion and renewed growth. Blood is propelled through them with renewed vigor. 40 Rejuvenation 9. A unilateral vasoligature is usually sufficient to stimulate the Puberty Gland. In such cases, the senile animal is thus enabled to produce healthy off- spring. The method has been successfully applied in the case of high bred hunting dogs and studs. In fact, Professor Steinach was recently permitted by the Prussian state authorities to perform his opera- tion on a famous steed in the former imperial stables at Herbeshausen. IO. The question whether the Steinach operation prolongs life is still open. It does in animals. Dr. Benjamin conjectures that the effects of the opera- tion may be more intense in inferior races, just as it is even more noticeable in animals than in human beings. For the present, Professor Steinach is satisfied to state that “rejuvenation or the delay of senescence is possible” that “the senile individual is reanimated functionally and organically,” that “this new period of rejuvenescence and vigor may continue for a considerable time,” and that “the final age reached may surpass by far the normal average of life.” CHAPTER XI Steinach’s First Human Experiments HAVING demonstrated his theory scientifically, Steinach does not hesitate to apply his methods to human beings. In conjunction with his colleague, Dr. Lichtenstern, he reports a number of remarkable cases. In the instances cited by him, auto-sugges- tion was excluded. The patients did not know that they were Steinached. The first case, A. W. suffered from precocious senility at forty-four. He was emaciated, listless, weak, constantly fatigued. Two or three months after the operation he puts on weight, his skin re- gains its old suppleness. After four or five months he is able to lift heavy weights, his hair comes back. In fact, he is compelled to shave more frequently than of old. In spite of miserable food conditions, he con- tinues to gain weight. Eighteen months after the operation he is indeed a “new man.” His face is without wrinkles. He makes the impression of a strong youthful individual in full possession of all his functions. 41 42 Rejuvenation The second patient, E. T., aged seventy-one, was the manager of an important industrial concern. He suffered from dizziness, trembling of the ex- tremities, a weak heart, difficulties of breathing and pronounced arteriosclerosis. Nine months after the operation unilaterally per- formed, he writes that his appetite is “immense,” his physical depression has “vanished.” He has regained the “elasticity of youth and the appearance of a man in the early sixties.” He can take long walks, his arteriosclerosis seems to be checked, his hand no longer trembles, he needs a hair cut once a week, and considers matrimony. Mr. J. S., sixty-six, a merchant of considerable importance, suffers from loss of memory and marked diminution of his intellectual capacity. He is tired, weak, depressed, wrinkled and suffers from a variety of ailments, which, while important clinically, need not detain us here. A prostatic operation brings no relief. Two months later the patient is Steinached. Immediately his appetite increases. He gains over four pounds a week. His mental resiliency returns. The typical manifestations of old age (dizziness, difficulties of breathing when engaged in muscular exertions, pains in the limbs) disappear. Typical manifestations of youthful vigor are noted. His face blooms, his wrinkles vanish. This mental and physical reconstruction continues after he leaves the repair shop. After the Operation Note how the neck has filled out and the expression of the eyes changed. General appearance in- dicates considerable improvement. REJUVENATED Before the Operation Note general debility, wrinkles, hollow neck and chest. One of Steinach’s cases. Steinach?s First Human Experiments “Professor,” I remarked, “you said to me that you were interested only in facts capable of demon- stration. Are the changes you state verifiable? Is it possible to ascertain with scientific precision the degree of youthfulness attained after the Steinach operation? Are not many of the phenomena purely subjective, colored to a certain extent by the uncon- scious bias of the patient or the physician?” “Fortunately,” Professor Steinach rejoined,