EFFECTS ON THE THYMUS 287 



wohlgeniihrten 6 jahrigen." Similar observations were made by Haugsted 



(1831). 



Simon ('45) stated: "I think it extremely probable that the thymus may 

 within a few days, if not hours, vary remarkably in the same individual, accord- 

 ing to the immediate state of the general nutrition. Its size seems to be, caeteris 

 paribus, if I may venture to use the phrase, a barometer of nutrition and a very 

 delicate one." 



Herard ('47) found great variation in the weight of the thymus, even aside 

 from the nature of the disease causing death. "La constitution de l'enfant, 

 son etat de maigreur ou d'embonpoint, semblent etre les principales conditions 

 qui influencent ces variations." Ecker ('53) likewise noted a decreased size in 

 the thymus during malnutrition. 



Friedleben ('58) made extensive and careful observations on the weight of 

 the thymus in the well-nourished and malnourished, and concluded: "Das 

 relative Gewicht der Thymus stellt sich im Sauglingsalter bei akuten Krank- 

 heiten um viermal, in chronischen um zwolfmal niederer als der normalen 

 Thymus; in der ersten Kindheit bei akuten Prozessen funfmal, bei chronischen 

 sechsmal; in dem Knabenalter bei akuten Krankheiten viermal, bei chronischen 

 neunmal niederer als in gesunden Individuen." Friedleben's animal experiments 

 will be mentioned later. 



Thaon ('72) similarly found that at death from traumatism or acute diseases 

 the thymus is always large; while in chronic disorders with malnutrition the 

 thymus is largely consumed. 



Seydel ('94) emphasized the medico-legal importance of the thymus weight, 

 claiming that thymus atrophy, accompanied by extreme emaciation and with- 

 out signs of organic disease, is a sure sign of death from inanition. Hansen 

 ('94) weighed the thymus in 108 cases, with results similar to those of Thaon 

 ('72). He opposed Seydel's claim that the thymus may totally disappear in 

 conditions of extreme exhaustion. Filomusi-Guelfi ('95) questioned the im- 

 portance of thymic atrophy as a sign of death from starvation, since it occurs in 

 all chronic diseases or conditions involving malnutrition. 



Farret ('96) confirmed Thaon's finding of thymus atrophy in athreptic 

 infants, with 27 tabulated cases. He concluded that the thymus is functionally 

 related to the nutrition and development of the organism. He cited the case of 

 Durante, who found in a cachectic infant an atrophic thymus (1.5 g.) showing 

 an intense sclerosis which he thought might have caused the fatal condition. 



The atrophy of the thymus during inanition, especially in its medico-legal 

 aspect, is discussed by Dwornitschenko ('97), von Mettenheimer ('98) and Diin- 

 schmann ('00). Von Mettenheimer (like Simon) considered the weight of the 

 thymus as the best index of nutrition of the body, its atrophy being comparable 

 to that of the adipose tissue. He described the occurrence of fibrosis and degen- 

 eration of Hassall's corpuscles, and held that thymic atrophy is the cause of 

 pedatrophy. Ghika ('01), however, maintained that the thymic atrophy is the 

 effect, rather than the cause, of athrepsia. 



Stokes, Rurah and Rohrer ('02) and Rurah ('03), like previous observers, 

 found a marked and constant atrophy of the thymus (average weight 2.2 g.) in a 



