178 ENDOCRINE GLANDS 



nearly always an adenoma, or an adenosarcoma, or a 

 sarcoma; more rarely an epithelioma. 



II. GIGANTISM. 



The medical disease known under the name of gigantism 

 means an individual whose height is superior to that 

 of others of his species, or his race, and who at the same time 

 shows a certain number of abnormalities, both morpholog- 

 ical and functional. 



The medical investigation of giants is recent. It 

 followed the description of acromegalia in which Marie 

 definitely differentiated it from gigantism. Brissaud and 

 Maige, then Launois and Roy have shown that very 

 frequently these two conditions occurred together. 



GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF GIGANTISM. 



Giants usually have a height superior to 2 metres. This 

 figure is, however, not absolute. Individuals whose 

 height is between 1.80 and 1.90 metres can be considered 

 as being pathological as regards to the rest of the family. 



What characterizes gigantism is not so much the height 

 as the disproportion of the various segments of the body. 



Among the giants, some show an excessive elongation 

 of the lower extremities. They appear to be on stilts. 

 This is the macrosketic type described by Manouvrier. 

 Others have extremely long arms in relation to the body. 

 This is the bradysketic type. 



While giants are said to have an excessive strength, in 

 reality they are very weak. Their strength, if it does 

 exist, is always temporary and sooner or later these indi- 

 viduals become asthenic, walk around with difficulty and 

 have to be helped. 



These subjects have no energy and are both weak in 



