URI http://geocities.datacellar.net/tokyo/1236/humantypes.html
This system of studying the human machine is based on the endocrine system.
We all are born with all the endocrine glands active - but some will be more active than others. This system is based on what is the most active endocrine gland in a person. For instance, someone with a active adrenal glands will behave in a certain way; this sort of person is referred to as an Adrenal type, or Martial, under this system.
The overactivity of various glands is recognized by the medical profession to promote certain characteristics, for instance if you have an over active Anterior Pituitary gland, which produces an excess of the growth hormone while you are growing up, then you will end up being very tall. The type associated with the Anterior Pituitary is the Saturnine type, characterized by amongst other things, their height.
Of course, in general, people have all the glands working, so they will display characteristics of all the associated types. The following list provides only extreme examples, which are actually rather rare.
I would be interested to hear of any medical documentation on the endocrine glands, and their effect on character, as well as the more obvious effects on body shape, level of activity, etc.
The human types are also associated with planets. I have not verified whether there is any direct connection between the planets and the associated human types, but they are at least useful as reminders of the characteristics of the types. Generally the associated Greek and Roman gods have the characteristics of the associated glandular type. For instance, Mercury, the planet has a fast speed of rotation about the sun, just as Mercury the God would move quickly about the heavens on his errands, and over activity of the thyroid gland produces hyper-activity.
It may well be that the relation between the planets and the corresponding types is simply that they both obey the law of seven. The Planets form a pattern about the sun in the same way the associated glands form a pattern about the heart, or the gland closest to the heart, the thymus. The planets are sustained by the sun, and they are fed by different characteristic radiations depending on how far they are from the sun. In the same way, the heart could be thought of as the source of life for the body, and perhaps the glands different distances from the heart get a different quality of blood.
Planets (plus the sun), and corresponding endocrine glands
- The Moon: Pancreas
- Mercury: thyroid
- Venus: Parathyroids
- Mars: Adrenal
- Saturn: Pituitary
- Jupiter: Posterior Pituitary
- The Sun: Thymus
Note, the planet image is from the great pages of Bill Arnett
I drew the glands picture myself - don't seem to be able to find such good stuff on the WWW on glands as on planets. My favorite book to learn about the Glands, and other aspects of Physiology is The Physiology Colouring book, by Kapit, Macey and Meisami.
The Types
The diagram below shows six of the types (Solar not yet drawn). There is a flow between the types. Points on the lines represent possible combinations.
The way to study types is to meet them in real life.
It would be nice to have a scrap book of human types, but I've not had time to do this properly yet.
