166 THE THYROID, THE THYMUS, AND THE ADRENALS. 



substance was absent in the majority of the alveoli. If thy- 

 roidectomy can so inhibit the suprarenal functions as to so 

 materially interfere with the oxidation processes as to cause 

 death, such marked structural lesions as these must produce 

 correspondingly great functional disorders also ascribable to 

 impaired oxidation. 



The symptomatology of infantile myxcedema upholds this 

 view in every way. The temperature of cretins is invariably 

 subnormal; they always suffer from cold. The nutrition of 

 all tissues is impaired: the brain remains undeveloped, the 

 fontanelles often remaining patent; the first and second denti- 

 tions are delayed; the skin is dry and thickened; the hair is 

 thin and coarse, sometimes absent; the nails are short, brittle, 

 and striated. Growth is very slow and arrested at an early 

 age, ossification being tardy and the epiphyses appearing late. 

 The muscular system is weak and the head tends to droop 

 forward, but no spasmodic or epileptoid movements occur. 

 The genital organs show no sign of development, testes and 

 ovaries being infantile. There is a marked tendency to severe 

 haemorrhage from the uterus, gums, and nose, and cyanosis 

 is often observed. Osier and Norton 36 refer to the investiga- 

 tions of Magnus Levy 37 as follows: "In four cases which he 

 studied he found a diminution in the consumption of oxygen 

 and formation of C0 2 , whereas in Graves's disease it has been 

 more than once proved that there is a marked increase in the 

 consumption of oxygen and in the formation of carbon dioxide." 

 Finally, the well-known effects of thyroid extract in these cases 

 in enhancing oxidation may be exemplified by the prevailing 

 views, which the following excerpt, taken from an article by 

 G. 1ST. Crary, 38 correctly shows: "Increased metabolism is shown 

 by (1) elevation of temperature; (2) increased appetite, with 

 more complete absorption of nitrogenous foods; (3) loss of 

 weight, with nitrogen excreted in excess of that taken in the 

 food; (4) growth of skeleton in the very young; (5) marked 

 improvement in the body-nutrition generally." Indeed, every 



38 Osier and Norton: "Sajous's Analytical Cyclopaedia of Practical Medicine," 

 vol. iii, p. 590. 



37 Magnus Levy: Verhandl. des Congr. t. innere Med., Wiesbaden, 1897. 

 88 G. N. Crary: St. Louis Med. and Surg. Journal, July, 1895. 



