THE SYMPATHETIC SYSTEM 27 



infantilism or Addison's disease. Frequently, it appears 

 to be the essential cause of the appearance of the symp- 

 toms. In certain cases the lesions produced are des- 

 tructive, but in a great many, antisyphilitic treatment, 

 combined with organo therapy, can cause remarkable 

 changes, notably in syphilitic thyroiditis. In other cases 

 tuberculosis is responsible for the symptoms and will 

 cause the appearance of pluriglandular syndromes. 



Syphilis explains very often the influence of heredity, 

 but there is also an endocrine heredity. This heredity has 

 been noticed particularly in thyroid pathology; it can be 

 direct. Families of myxedematous individuals have been 

 reported (Brissaud), hereditary or family exophthalmic 

 goitre has been studied. It can be more complex; a mother 

 having Basedow's disease can have children with myxe- 

 dema. Similar findings have been made in regard to the 

 pituitary, the adrenals, the pancreas, etc. It is possible 

 that the well known heredity of disturbances of nutrition, 

 or obesity are due to hereditary endocrine disturbances. 

 The study of patients with endocrine disturbances should, 

 therefore, not only include the investigation of the family 

 for any evidence of lues, but other infectious diseases 

 which manifest themselves in the children as disturbances 

 of the endocrines. Emotions may possibly play a part in 

 the etiology of endocrine disturbances. This has been 

 known for a long time in the case of exophthalmic goitre 

 and the late war has verified the influence of severe 

 emotions and fright on this disease. We know the action 

 of emotions on menstruation (periods delayed or ahead of 

 time), on breast feeding, certain disturbances related 

 to the internal secretions of the ovary (frequency of Chlor- 

 osis at Nancy -French Lorraine, during the years the town 

 was bombarded, Etienne and Richard). 



A large series of experiments, notably those of Cannon 



