118 The Unity of the Organism 



So an enormous mass of evidence, experimental, surgical 

 and clinical, is now in court demonstrating 1 that for some 



o 



animals at least, among them being the human and the 

 canine species, products of the thyroid apparatus are in- 

 dispensable to the normal life, the symmetrical growth and 

 balanced physiological activities of the organism. That 

 the apparatus is essential to the "Hormonic Equilibrium" 

 of the organism in some animals is beyond question. 



While no pretense can be made at an exhaustive exami- 

 nation of this evidence two phases of our discussion make 

 it desirable to cary the examination on the manifestational 

 side a little farther. One of these is the importance of 

 making as objective and emphatic as possible the extent of 

 the manifestations in the individual ; the other is the ques- 

 tion of the generality, taxonomically speaking, of the thy- 

 roid apparatus. 



In the interest of the first of these I present, verbatim, the 

 report of a single case of complete thyroidectomy, the animal in 

 this instance being a fox. The individual concerned was a female 

 less than one year old. 



"Oct. 28. Glands removed; good recovery. 



"Oct. 29- Normal., but does not eat. 



"Oct. 30. Salivation, rapid breathing, strong tremors and tet- 

 any from 7 A. M. to 2P.M.; quiescent but weak during the rest 

 of the afternoon. 



"Nov. 1. Normal, but rather weak; eats; no sign of tremors 

 or salivation during the day. 



"Nov. 2. Restless; slight tremors; dyspnoea; does not eat. 



"Nov. 3. Some depression, but no tremors or salivation until 

 4 P. M. ; does not eat. At 4 P. M. spasms appeared and con- 

 tinued unabated as long as observed (7 P. M.). 



"Nov. 4. Found dead at 4- A. M. Post-mortem examination 

 revealed no parathyroids nor accessory thyroids." 



As to taxonomic range and character of manifestation of thy- 

 roid influence, much diversity might have been anticipated on 

 general natural history grounds. As far as investigations have 

 gone they realize these anticipations. A summary of results will 

 serve our purpose, and this is at hand in Schafer's volume already 



