THYROID INSUFFICIENCY 75 



on the third day my pressure was 130 mm. 

 This effect was produced without any feeling of 

 discomfort, such as the nitrites often give, and 

 all my other symptoms disappeared. The dose 

 of hippurate is from 5 to 10 grains daily. ' It is 

 easily soluble, and in cases of nerve strain or 

 insomnia works admirably with some bromide. 

 I have touched on most of the mam signs and 

 conditions of hypothyroidism, but in practice 

 the careful observer, who has had his eyes opened, 

 will be able to diagnose often some small diver- 

 gencies from the normal, mostly in the direction 

 of deficiency, and will be able to correct them 

 quickly and happily. Such, for instance, is the 

 unnatural falling of hair in middle-aged women, 

 the hair at the same time becoming brittle and 

 losing its gloss ; unexplained rheumatic pains, 

 such as fibrositis, or wandering pains in the back 

 with a strong sense of chilliness, are often due 

 to thyroid deficiency. 



Commencing enlargement of the prostate in 

 men is often arrested by thyroid if continued for 

 some tune : its power of absorbing young con- 

 nective tissue is the probable explanation. Finally, 

 one must always think of its powers of defence 

 against the invading microbes of disease ; a poor 

 gland, deficient in thyroxin, cannot speak effec- 



