'54 



GILBERT HORRAX 



years was 4 feet 6l/ 2 inches tall, i.e., corresponding to a boy of thirteen or 

 fourteen years. An individual reported by the writer was 5 feet 3 inches 

 in height at the age of twelve, which is seven inches above normal for 



that age. 



Similarly in the matter of body weight, the patient of Oestreich and 



Slawyk was 20 kilos, or 4 over the normal ; Raymond and Claude's sub- 

 ject was 39 kilos, or 13 above normal ; 

 and the writer's was 114 Ibs., or 32 

 above normal. 



Mental Precocity. An advanced 

 and more mature mental attitude, than 

 would be expected for their age, has 

 been mentioned specifically in several 

 instances of authenticated cases of 

 pineal tumor. This maturity of mind 

 has varied from a simple heightened 

 intelligence to a really extraordinary 

 degree of mental attainment. Thus 

 v. Frankl-Hochwart says of his pa- 

 tient, who at the time was five years 

 old: "He spent much time in discuss- 

 ing the immortality of the soul, and 

 the life after death." He adds that 

 these ideas and subjects were not sug- 

 gested to him by his relatives or 

 friends. Raymond and Claude say 

 that their patient, a boy of ten, 

 "answers questions well, perhaps 

 slightly better than most boys of his 

 age." In the writer's reported case, 

 it was mentioned that during the year 

 of his illness, between the ages of 

 eleven and twelve, "his mental de- 

 velopment had been very noticeable, as 

 exemplified by a more mature mental 

 attitude, greater thoughtfulness, etc." 



These facts were vouchsafed by the child's parents, and were related before 



the diagnosis of pineal tumor was known. 



In a further recently verified case seen at the Peter Bent Brigham 



Hospital (Fig. 2), it was noted in the history that the patient, a child of 



three years, "responds to questions rather more intelligently than might be 



expected of him." 



Early Changes in the Primary and Secondary Sexual Characters. 



Ogle, in 1899, was one of the first to call attention to changes in the exter- 



Fig. 2. Case of teratoma of pineal 

 gland (authenticated by necropsy). 

 Age 3 years. 

 Height 41.5 inches. 

 \Yeight-3G Ibs. 



