16 CAREY P. McCORD 



children, who ^ere mentally or physically retarded. Abundant data had 

 made clear that such medication was without deleterious effects. The 

 first of these studies was made by Goddard and Cornell in 1913. In 

 addition to their own work they report the results of similarly planned 

 studies which were carried out by Dana and Berkeley among the defective 

 minded school children of New York City. 



Goddard and Cornell selected twenty-five mentally defective children, 

 chosen as far as possible from the younger groups, some of each sex, and 

 of different grades of intelligence from the lowest to the highest. Careful 

 examinations were made as to mental age, etiology of mental defect, 

 height, weight, grip, lung capacity, etc. A control group of twenty-five 

 other mentally defective children was so chosen that each child to be fed 

 glandular materials was paired with a control child of as nearly the same 

 age as possible, physically and mentally, with similar family histories, and 

 of approximately the same state of development. The same careful pre- 

 liminary tests were made on the control group as on the test group. It 

 was duly recognized with reference to controls that no two children are 

 exactly alike in temperament, mental or physical condition. 



The material used as the therapeutic agent was the glands from young 

 bullocks. The glands from twelve bullocks were so desiccated as to pre- 

 pare one hundred capsules of medicament. The dosage was approxi- 

 mately f grain of wet weight gland per capsule. One capsule per day- 

 was the initial dose. At the end of two months of feeding each group was 

 carefully reexamined. The results indicated a very slight advantage in 

 favor of the pineal fed children. This was shown in mental capacity, and 

 physical development except gross weight which was slightly reduced. 

 While the improvement was not great, it was held as significant enough to 

 warrant the continuation of the work. At the end of the four month 

 period of feeding, their results are thus summarized : 



As a group the twenty-one subjects had gained 2.23 points. Of the 

 fourteen who gained, the average mental gain was 3.35 points. The four- 

 teen controls gained as a group 1.35 points mentally. Of the nine who 

 gained, the average mental gain was 2.11 points. 



The subjects in seven groups gained from four to nine points mentally. 

 In each group in which there was any mental advance the children had 

 the mentality of three years or more. Those in the idiot group had not 

 improved mentally. 



Physical Development. The gain in the standing height for the 

 twenty-one subjects averaged 18.52 mm. ; for the fourteen controls, 24 mm. 



In weight the twenty-one subjects gained an average of 2.06 kg., the 

 fourteen controls, 2.89 kg. There was no loss of weight in either subjects 

 or controls. 



In right hand grip, the twenty-one subjects gained an average of 0.9 

 kg. as a group, and the twelve who gained average 1.58 kg. The fourteen 



