soo 



ACCOUNT OF CRETINISM, 



Proof of the 

 action of phy- 

 sical causes on 

 the mind. 



Cretinism may 

 be prevented. 



Confined to 

 the poor, 



Aitafojry be- 

 tween ceti- 

 jtiswv and 

 jriekct*. 



corresponded with those already described by different 

 writers. 



There is no fact in the natural history of man, that af- 

 fords an argument so direct and so impressive, in proof of 

 the influence of physical causes on the mind, as cretinism. 

 It shows moreover, that the growth of every part is essen- 

 tially connected with the conditions in which it is fit to ex- 

 ercise its peculiar functions; and in this respect, it fares 

 with the intellectual as with the bodily powers. 



The most decisive argumenfin proof of this opinion is, 

 that cretinism may be prevented by removing children 

 from the confined and dirty places where it prevails, and 

 nursing and educating them in the higher parts of the 

 mountains. Within these last ten years, the number of 

 cretins has diminished, the condition of the lowest class of 

 society is somewhat bettered, and more attention is paid 

 towards that diseased constitution which is the forerunner 

 of mental imbecility. I did not find that the poor crea- 

 tures took any pride in having any of their children ideots* 

 or bien heureux^ as some authors assert ; on the contrary, 

 the parents were very much ashamed of acknowledging, 

 that any cretins belonged to their families ; and it was after 

 repeated attempts, only by declaring myself to be a phy- 

 sician, that I could get access into their houses to examine 

 any of those wretched beings in the human form. The 

 burnt sponge is known as a remedy for the goitre among 

 the people where it is most prevalent ; but it is seldom ad- 

 ministered, because the disease is so common, that it does 

 not attract notice, nor affect in general the ordinary func- 

 tions of life. And as to cretinism, this seems to be looked 

 upon as belonging to indigence and poverty; for in every 

 place where I saw cretins, many well looking* persons of 

 both sexes resided, and these were, without exception, per- 

 sons of a higher class in society, who lived in better 

 houses, and could supply both their moral and physical 

 necessities. 



I might perhaps have insisted more upon the analogy 

 between cretinism and rickets, for there is a remarkable 

 coincidence in the literary history of these two diseases, as 

 well as in many other points. GHsson first described rickets, 



