Los Angeles herald., 1909-04-23

by surgery the total elimination of the
gland resulted in death, as a rule. Chill
dren afflicted with cretinism were found
upon post norton examinations to nave
no thyroid gland. In fourteen out OF
sixteen cases the gland was totally abb
sent and in the other two wholly dis
eased.
In 1890 several European physicians
endeavored to graft the thyroid of a
sheep into the abdomen of a patient
whose thyroid gland had been removed,
and were successful. The next year
the thyroid of the sheep was admins
tered hypodermically, and soon there
after it was given by the mouth. Since
then the latter method of administra-
ton has been, used. After the treat
ment proved successful with adults suf-
fering from the absence of the thyroid
gland it was tried on cretins, or young
children. From the first it proved high
ly successful. restoring hopeless cases
to normal health. The medical works
treating on the disease are full of Illus
trations of cases before and after the
administration of the treatment. In
some cases eleven months sufficed to
transform the most horrible of human
forms into as pretty little girls and
boys, both in mind and body, as one
would wish to see.
ism in 1893. He then found eleven cases
In the United States. Later he found
sixty. He discovered that the disease
was more common in some part of On
tario and Michigan than elsewhere, and
that the territory of most frequency
was coincident with the most frequent
occurrence of goitre. Since then physi-
slams have identified II more frequently,
and have learned not to confound it
with idiocy.
The thyroid gland is one of the mys-
teries of the body. Exactly what its
Office is no one has yet been able to
define. 1t appears that the gland gath
ers up certain poisons from the blood
works them. over, Transforming them
into healthful fluid and then turns
them loose into the blool again through
the lymphatics. Yet just how this is
done or what the change effected is
none of the men OF medicine can say
1t is not ~recorded that any OF them
have discovered any essential difference
in the blood of the cretin from that OF
the child in health, nor between the
grownup who has had his thyroid gland
excised and the healthy man.
Even the drug thyroid is not under
stood, except as to its effects. The
physician knows that it is made from
powdered sleeps thyroid, but when IL
not offer one which will even imperfect
ly take its place. It's use was the first
practical application of the doctrine OF
internal secretion, and it still remains
the most striking example of the con-
scious use, for therapeutic purposes, OF
"hormone." One thing is pretty well
settled, though not so much as to be-
come an accepted fact by the medical
fraternity, and that is that iodine is
one of the important constituents OF
thyroid.
The dose of thyroid for an infant Is
from half a grain to five grains. admin
istered twice a day. The spaller dose
is usually used at the beginning and
gradually increased to the maximum
A quickening pulse usually tells of toe
free a dosage. Yet 1t seems practically
harmless when large doses are taken
There is a recorded case where a child
swallowed a hundred fve-grain tablets
without any bad effects.
The elimination of the thyroid gland
produces startling effects in human
beings and animals. There is severe
internal disturbance, terminating In
commissions and tetany. 1t is thought
that there has never been an instance
where the gland was taken from a
1esh-eating animal that 1t did not die