ENDOCRINOLOGY IN PEDIATRICS 193 



ture ossification of bone centers, dentition and epi- 

 physeal closure. In these cases we have an abnormally 

 early atrophy of the thymus and parathyroids with 

 hypersecretion of the pituitary, thyroid, adrenals and 

 pineal glands. It is interesting to note that in older 

 children the symptoms of hypernephroma also manifest 

 themselves by overdevelopment of the sexual sphere. 

 They approach the masculine type and often grow 

 beards and mustaches. In pseudohermaphroditism of 

 the feminine type there is found bilateral hypertrophy 

 of the adrenal cortex. The enlargement of the adrenal 

 cortex has been noted in animals during breeding, preg- 

 nancy and after castration. This, together with the 

 fact that the cortex is of small size in deficient sexual 

 development, are additional evidences of the associa- 

 tion of the adrenal cortex with sex characteristics. 



Eunuchoidism is an acquired disorder of the intersti- 

 tial cells of Leydig. Those cases manifesting this dis- 

 turbance are quite similar in functional capacity to a 

 castrate, but without the absence of the testicles. This 

 condition is usually associated with dyspituitarism, 

 hypothyroidism and hypoadrenia. Undescended testi- 

 cle is not due to adhesions, as formerly thought, but to 

 some pathological condition or abnormal lining of the 

 Leydig cells. When organotherapy alone is insufficient, 

 early operation is indicated in order to avoid untoward 

 complications, such as cancer of the undescended testi- 

 cle, strangulation of the cord, if tortioned by axial rota- 

 tion, and possible gangrene of the involved structures. 



NERVOUS AND MUSCULAR DISTURBANCES 



When there is a suppression or stagnation of the se- 

 cretions of any or all of the ductless glands we may 

 have a state of degeneration of both mind and body. 

 We may have amentia ranging from the backwardness 

 of the imbecile to profound idiocy, including the amau- 

 rotic, moral and microcephalic forms. The hebephrenic 



