486 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



with difficulty that she can be recognized as the same person. 

 The swollen, pallid, stupid face is gone, and in its place are red 

 cheeks and the pleasant expression of a healthy woman. She can 

 walk several miles a day, sleep well, has a good appetite, and 

 enjoys life. 



Such is the history of myxcedema and how it came to be 

 treated by the thyroid gland of animals. Therapeutics can show 

 no more brilliant results than these. 



When myxciedema occurs in infancy or childhood it is called 

 cretinism. The word " cretin " will recall to the minds of most 

 of my readers visits to Switzerland or to the eastern parts of 

 France, where these queer little dwarfs are so common. Goitre 

 is also, curiously enough, frequent in these localities. But few 

 are aware that we, here in America, possess cretins of our own. 

 In the cretinous regions of Europe, where so many of the inhabit- 

 ants are afflicted with the disease, it is called endemic or peculiar 

 to the country. In America it occurs only occasionally, and not 

 with any geographical regularity, and so such cretins are called 

 sporadic. Now, sporadic cretinism with us is certainly a rare 

 affection ; but as the condition becomes more familiar to physi- 

 cians, and as the inmates of our own idiot asylums are more care- 

 fully examined, it is possible that it will be found that cretinism, 

 like myxoedema, is less rare than had been suspected. 



The absence or disease of the thyroid gland produces much 

 the same symptoms in the child as in the adult ; the most strik- 

 ing difference is due to the fact that in the child development of 

 the body and brain is interfered with, so that cretins are generally 

 dwarfs, and the failure of mental development results in a con- 

 dition closely allied to idiocy. These idiotic dwarfs are very re- 

 pulsive to look at. They have large heads and necks and thick 

 lips, through which protrudes the clumsy tongue. They have 

 few or no teeth, and the swelling of the throat renders the voice 

 indistinct. The nose is large and flat, and the swollen eyelids 

 partly cover eyes which are frequently crossed. The limbs are 

 swollen and often incapable of service ; the skin which covers 

 them is hard, rough, and thick. Cretins are always short, and 

 may never grow taller than a normal child of two or three years. 

 They never attain a high degree of intelligence, and most com- 

 monly are idiots with only the power to comprehend the simplest 

 things of daily life, and with a vocabulary limited to a few 

 words. 



There are some differences between endemic and sporadic 

 cretinism, and what follows applies only to sporadic cretins. 



What has been said concerning the treatment of myxedema 

 by thyroid feeding may be repeated for sporadic cretinism. The 

 changes which result from the thyroid treatment of cretins. 



