Pituitary Gland

The pituitary gland is about the size of a pea, situated almost exactly

in the center of the head at the base of the brain and just

behind the root of the nose. It hangs suspended from the underside

of the brain like a cherry from the limb of a tree. It is grayish

yellow in color. In the adult it weighs about five grains, or 1/1400 of

a pound.

Its name is derived from the Latin word, “pituita”, because it

was supposed to secret a fluid which lubricated the throat. It was

believed that the secretion filtered through the porous ethnoid bone

that intervenes between the pituitary body and the nasal cavity.