172 THE THYROID, THE THYMUS, AND THE ADRENALS. 



vagi did not alter the result. In a third case he noted that the 

 "thymus caused a slight increase of temperature, but that the 

 increment was not beyond the normal variant/' That the action 

 is not antagonistic to the action of the thyroid secretion, as 

 thought by some observers, can easily be shown. If such were 

 the case Svehla could not have caused temporary recovery of 

 his collapsed animals; nor would Cunningham 42 have found it 

 as efficacious after removal of the thyroid gland as thyroid 

 extract itself, nor would Ott have found the "rise" to precede 

 the "fall." 



Thymus extract seems to prove efficacious in precisely the 

 same class of cases of exophthalmic goiter as thyroid extract. 

 Owen, 43 for example, recalled his successful result in a marked 

 case of twenty years' standing, but he indirectly points to his 

 patient's advanced condition by the statement "the next three 

 months he spent mostly in bed." His second case complained 

 of feeling "low and weak," sweated profusely, became bald, and 

 had tremors and pigmentation. A third case benefited was 

 one in which breathlessness, general weakness, and emotional 

 outbreaks prevailed. He also refers to an extremely aggra- 

 vated case treated successfully by Maude, 44 in which drugs, 

 including belladonna, had proven ineffectual. Under thymus 

 tabloids, 45 grains daily, the patient rapidly improved, and 

 invariably relapsed when they were discontinued. Maude hav- 

 ing observed that the tremors were particularly relieved by 

 this form of treatment, Owen tried fresh thymus in paralysis 

 agitans, which, as shown, is a sign of the advanced stage, 

 that of suprarenal insufficiency, "with the result that the 

 tremors were unmistakably benefited and the mental state and 

 the muscular condition greatly improved." 



An analytical study of Maude's cases shows that they are 

 all of the advanced type. In the first "the heart and paralytic 

 conditions were such as to confine her to bed for over a year." 

 The second "belonged to a highly neurotic family; goiter had 

 existed since childhood," and the "tremor, excessive muscular 

 weakness, and cardiac disturbance were all well marked." The 



42 Cunningham: Jour, of Experimental Medicine, p. 225, vol., 1898. 

 * 3 Owen: British Medical Journal, Oct. 10, 1896. 

 " Maude: Lancet, July 18, 1896. 



