A VILLAGE DOCTOR'S CLINIC 73 



one of my first patients on coming to the State some 

 sixteen years ago. She is a cretin. When she came 

 to me, her condition had not been recognized by any 

 other physician. She was seventeen years old and 

 almost an imbecile. She was 43 Va inches tall, her girth 

 at the umbilicus was 23% inches and around the chest, 

 below the nipples, it was 22%. She was of squat figure, 

 her face was broad and putty-like in color. Her ex- 

 pression was stupid, her mouth hung open, she had very 

 imperfect speech and answered questions slowly. She 

 could scarcely walk across the room without being 

 tired. All her bodily functions were slow. The bowels 

 and kidneys were inactive, and heart action was feeble. 



The treatment originally recommended at that time 

 was thyroid extract, gr. V, t.i.d. The improvement 

 was marvelous. After only one week's treatment, the 

 patient ran away from home, and a neighbor found 

 her a mile away. The girl became so lively and mis- 

 chievous that her mother told me she didn't know 

 whether she should continue with my treatment or not. 

 Said she: "Ethel used to be such a good girl that if 

 she died I knew she would go to heaven; but since 

 taking your treatment she is getting so naughty that 

 I don't know where she would go if she died." Ethel 

 made progress mentally also. She learned to read and 

 write. She grew nearly twelve inches in a year. 



Ethel never became very strong. When she was a 

 little more than twenty, her teeth began decaying. She 

 was subject to myalgia and neuralgia. She caught cold 

 easily. Her recuperative powers were below par. On 

 this account, we are endeavoring to "remineralize" her 

 system and she is also receiving half a grain of thyroid 

 three times a day. 



Well, let's shut up the office and chat for a while 

 about these people. The cases seem to have been chosen 

 somewhat at random; but it will be found that they 

 are the usual cases met routinely by every general 



