The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-04-30
SURGIcAL ACHIEVEMENTS.
Theodore Waters Writes Remarkable Recent Operations
Methods of Curing Idiots By Surgery-Cretin-
ism and Island of IdiOts-PrOductOn of
SOmnambuSm Arifically.

! tionleSS on the table and staring up
ward toward the great skylight with
| the hopeless indifference of the idiot.
/ Her lips were thick, her tongue pro-
! truded, her hair had a peculiar silky
appearance. She did not appear to be
an ordinary imbecile. She betrayed no
uneasiness under the operation and her
case was soon disposed of. The chief
surgeon cleansed his hands in the anti
/ septic washing solution and came over
to where the writer sat.
Was not that an idot?" he was
asked.
Yes; we get a good many of them
here"
But can you cure idiocy?"
We'll, we can help her. She is a
cretin. Cretinism is a form of idiocy
caused by the lack of part of the thy
roid gland. 1t is a form of goitre. Many
children have it. The moment the thy
roid secretion stops forming the de-
velopment of the child stops short If,
for instance, the child has advanced to
the age of I and then failed Of its thy
roid, il would go through life as a Z
year-old child as far as brain develop
posite condition brought about when too
much thyroid secretion is deposited.
We know it then as eXopthalmic goitre.
A person with this malady is the op-
posite of the idiot-that is, intensely ac-
tive and alert, representative in all
things, the antitheSiS of dullneSs, as it
We're. EXopthalmic goitre can be cured
by removing part of the thyroid gland
from the throat; cretiniSm can be
cured, or rather held in check, by ad-
ministering thyroid extract to the idiot.
If child is taken young and properly
doctored with thyroid extract it will go
on developing just like any normal
child. But-and here is possibility for
a novel writer-if the administering of
the extract should be stopped suddenly,
the youngster would relapse into its
former idiotic state. or. at any rate.
stop off where it was. Think of a curse
of idiocy hanging over ones head con-
stantly!'
What causes the condition aside
from its physiological features?"
"Well, that is not known exactly.
The disease is endemic in many noun
tain districts, and is said to occur most
frequently in magnesium limestone
formations. 1t is unknown in England,
but very common in France. 1t is rare
in Prussia: middle Europe has lot of
it in the mountain districts. 1t is also
found in the Himalayas and in the An
DIES. But it occurs in fiat countries, as,
for instance, on the island of Nieder-
werth, below CoblentZ, where a large
proportion of the inhabitants are ere
tins.
What An island of idiots! How
many are there?"
We'll, the last time 1 heard there
were 1S1 cretins, in a population of $50.
1t has been suggested that the malady
in Europe might be due to the constant
use of snow water. Snow by the way,
seems to be curiouSly productive of
trouble when swallowed. Epidemic goi-
tire attacked the members of the crew
of Captain Cook while on their famous
voyage, because they drank water from
a melted iceberg. and now 1 see what
the snow habit is doing for a lot of
klondikerS. But, to return to our Gre
tins. They really seem to be caused by
geologic or climatic conditions for it
has been known to disappear from a
family after he removal of the family
from certai district. Other families
heretofore ., lthy had cretin children
after they had moved into that district