EVERY-DAY ENDOCRINOLOGY 43 
rn Pf If NL OR, OS OSL OP SIL OS 
Blood pressure, 170 mm. systolic, and 70 mm. dias- 
tolic. The urine showed an increased output of urea 
(314 per cent.). The electrocardiogram showed evi- 
dences of auricular fibrillation and a basal metabolism 
test, done at the university hospital, showed that it was 
78 per cent above the normal. This patient evidently 
presents a condition exactly opposite to that of the pre- 
ceding case. Here the destruction of tissues is greater 
than the reconstruction, due to a hyperactivity of the 
thyroid gland. The diagnosis is hyperthyroidism. We 
do not know of any remedy that will stop the hyper- 
activity of the thyroid, but we started by seeking for 
fundamental causes for the irritation. Therefore, the 
treatment in this case was begun by the removal of the 
tonsils and all teeth that were found diseased, on the 
ground that focal sepsis may cause stimulation of the 
thyroid gland. As no improvement followed, the ad- 
ministration of the pancreas substance is indicated, as 
it happens that this gland is believed to counteract the 
thyroid gland in its action upon the heart. Should the 
pancreas therapy fail, recourse to the X-ray or partial 
thyroidectomy will be indicated: 
Many other instances might be mentioned, but the 
above are referred to in order to emphasize the impor- 
tance of endocrinology in every-day medicine, and to 
call attention to the encouraging therapeutic possibili- 
ties that this new knowledge offers to the profession. 
The more we study the ductless glands and their hor- 
mone control of the body, the better are we able to 
discover the common disorders, heretofore overlooked, 
which really are due to dyshormonism, as it has been 
called; and to add to our usual treatment suitable or- 
ganotherapeutic regulation of the disturbed glandular 
function. 
