The Right Chemistry: The discovery of melatonin

I was confused. Just about every discussion of the pineal gland, be it in a scientific publication or a lay article, attributes the name of the tiny rice-grain-sized gland found in the geometric centre of the brain to its shape that is claimed to resemble a pine cone. Reference is usually made to Galen, the ancient Greek physician who is said to have first described the distinctive cone-shape of the gland. That’s pretty interesting I thought, but no amount of searching through anatomical texts or online images revealed a picture of the gland that looked anything like a pine cone. Time to go back to the supposed original reference. Read More