The Topeka state journal., 1914-01-10

Delicate Operation That Saves Young
From Becoming Giants.

OkDcE0tAO0 AA.oS SSv~D
From Becoming Giants.
Over in England a committee OF ex-
{ perts, in reporting upon the conoitions
OF insane asylums and institutions iof
I the care Of detectives, made the SIG
niffcant suggestion that the present
treatment CT the latter was possibly
susceptible Of revolutionary cnanee.
In Ph.ladelphia an operation mas Deen
performed upon an overgrown ooy
which has in It wonderful potentiali-
. ties, The Pennsylvania lad. q youth
Of Is, had attained a stature OF
feet Z inches, and had shown every
physical Indication of growing stiii
longer The operation was to put
stop to this abnormal growth, ana, az
the same time, to give the rest OF MS
body and his mind a chance to eaten
mn. Perhaps YOU don't see any con-
nection between the report OF the
British committee and the case OF
John Michael in Philadelphia. but
there IL a connection of importance TO
the welfare of humanity, and that Is
the story to be told.
No doubt. like nearly every one else.
you consider your mind the ruling
power in your physical makeup. but,
II recent discoveries are read Alright
It would appear that there II another
part Of our organization which IL our
vital master. The curious part OF 1t
all IL that until fairly recently this
particular organ was treated with
goodly measure Of contempt. and the
medical profession classed it as moth
ing better than an obsolescent relic OF
primordial days when, possibly, we
were scarcely more dignified than the
polliwog of the present. We refer to
what the anatomist calls the pituitary
Gland. st,...s, 49,
Now. the pituitary gland is not a
part of the brain. although associated
with it. 1t weighs in q normal per-
son something like ham a gram, and
1g shaped after the fashion of small
peanut But its Importance is not to
be judged by its size, although its alb
normal enlargement in some instances
really led to the first revelations as to
its functions. The initial inkling of
its workings was disclosed SO recently
as the late eighties, and a little his
tory must be told in order that we
may appreciate how rapid have been
the strides of surgery and medicine
since then.
The circus giant and the towering
physical freaks of other exhibitions
have impressed us nightly from time
to time. We imagined these men to
be correspondingly strong and vigor-
THESE
giants up to us as an indication of our
own physical degeneracy and as proof
OF what our remote ancestors uni
formly were. Now we learn that
these very tall fellows were really vic
TINS OF q rare disease, and it seems
likely that the giants of tradition. If
they ever existed. probably suffered
from the same malady. The psychol-
Ogist assures us that the average man
of today is a bigger creature than his
distant brothers that roamed the pre-
historic forests. In short, the giants
OF folklore were not the splendid
specimens they have been pictured:
and the object in trying to halt John
Michael's further growth was to pre-
vent him from becoming a similar
physical undesirable.
In the far-away dawn of living YER
tebrates. the pituitary gland is sup
posed to have performed a peculiar
duty, and until of late it was imagined
that the days Of its usefulness had
long since passed. According to COM
parative anatomy, there was a time
when vertebrate creatures had an
opening at the back and roof Of the
mouth cavity. which provided a direct
passage to the brain. Standing watch
at the inner end Of this vital highway
was the pituitary gland, which regu-
lated the manner In which air and
water and food should be assimilated
and apportioned in maintaining the
physical well being and in supplying
energy for the active operations OF
life. Now there came a time when
this cleft closed; the brain withdrew
from its Quondam intimacy with the
mouth; and the pituitary gland, OF
body. elected to share this seclusion
Accordingly, the early anatomists
jumped to the hasty conclusion that
It's days OF effective service were over
believing it of no more present use
In our physical economy than the
troublesome vermiform appendix
However, they were woefully in error
and their followers have pretty gen.
orally shared in the mistake unit
within the last quarter of a century
Just 20 years ago a South American
Indian, to the show business known a.
the Peruvian Giant" died in New
York City. An autopsy was per
formed. and it was definitely estab
lished-in confirmation of earle
opinions-that the abnormal size o
his pituitary gland was directly re
sponsible not only for his great heigh
OF feet 8 inches, but for his deatl
as well. He had fallen a victim to tn,
kindred diseases of "giantism" an,
acromegaly." the first producing hi
tallness and the other making hin
more unshapely by overgrowth Of hi
hands and feet and Of his lower jaw
During the years Of ordinary youth
1ul development. that is, before tn
bones stop growing and the ends O
some OF them become set and united
the over big pituitary body stimulate =
an excessive lengthening of some q
the bones-especially those of the legs
Should the disease break out after tn
maturing of the skeleton. then the bon
supplemental growth confines itse
mainly to augmenting the hands an
feet and possibly the lower jaw
'Giantism" Is. therefore. the earl
stage Of the malady, and "acromegaly
the later one. This distinction was no