180 THERAPEUTICS AND PHARMACOLOGY 



We know that portions of carcinomatous growths may be carried 

 by the blood-stream from one part of the body to another where 

 they may act as new foci, but that they can only be transplanted with 

 difficult}^ if at all from one animal to another. Thus it is evident 

 that though their reproductive power is great their vitality is feeble. 

 Therefore what one may hope for is, that though all the drugs 

 hitherto tried have been powerless to prevent the life and growth 

 of such tumors, yet something may yet be found which will attack 

 and destroy them and nevertheless leave uninjured the healthy 

 tissues by which they are surrounded. Lupus and rodent ulcer 

 situated on the surface of the body have been successfully treated 

 by the X-rays and ultra violet rays. These have little effect on 

 deep-seated cancer. My friend, Sir William Ramsay, thinks, how- 

 ever, that the emanations from radium, which are to a certain extent 

 soluble in water, might be administered with a view of destroying 

 internal cancer, more especially as he has already found that they 

 seem to have no injurious action when given to healthy animals. 

 In the case of cancer it is certain that groups of cells take on a life 

 of their own, and live independently of the wants of the organism 

 as a whole. In some other diseases we find that entire organs 

 become too active and thus injure the health of the whole body. 

 One of the best examples of this is the thyroid gland which, when 

 hypertrophied, produces, through the secretion which it pours into 

 the blood, a curious set of nervous symptoms, dilatation of the 

 vessels, palpitation of the heart, tremor, restlessness, excitement, 

 and rise of temperature. In the disease known as Graves's Disease 

 these symptoms exist and may possibly be aggravated by the condi- 

 tion of the nervous system which causes the characteristic protrusion 

 of the eyeballs and may even be the cause of the swelling of the 

 thyroid itself. But that most of the symptoms are really due to the 

 action of the thyroid secretion is shown by the fact that they may all 

 be observed after excessive administration of dried thyroid gland. 



Here we have a toxin formed within the body by the over-action 

 of one of its parts and at present we have no satisfactory antitoxin 

 by which we can remove the symptoms, although supra-renal gland 

 has an action somewhat antagonistic to that of the thyroid, and this 

 gland or its extract when administered internally in cases of exoph- 

 thalmic goitre sometimes appears to be beneficial. The case is very 

 different, however, when, instead of being excessive, the action of the 

 thyroid is deficient. When this occurs in adults the circulation 

 becomes poor, the skin cold, the movements of the body and the 

 action of the mind slow, the aspect becomes dull and heavy, and the 

 features puffy and swollen. When thyroid gland or its extract is 

 given, all these symptoms disappear and the patient becomes healthy 

 for the time and usually remains so as long as the administration is 



