CLINICAL SYNDKOMES (STATUS THYMICUS, ETC.) 405 



Now taking the 116 cases of well developed status, Symmers found 

 the thymus hyperplastic in every instance. The weight was recorded in 

 sixty-six cases. The youngest was an infant eight hours old, whose thy- 

 mus weighed 70 grams, and in whom death occurred suddenly. The old- 

 est was an acromegalic individual aged thirty-eight years, in whom the 

 thymus also weighed 70 grams and in whom death was due to an inter- 

 current infection. The average weight of the thymus was 



Under 1 year- 25 grams 13 cases 



1 to 5 years 18 grams 14 cases 



6 to 10 years 24 grams 5 cases 



11 to 15 years 22 grams 5 cases 



16 to 20 years 23 grams 9 cases 



21 to 30 years 27. 8 grams 17 cases 



31 to 40 years 33.8 grams 3 cases 



The faucial tonsils were hyperplastic in 61 instances (51 per cent), the 

 lingual tonsils in 58 (49 per cent), and the pharyngeal tonsils in 45 (37 

 per cent). Peyer's patches and the solitary follicles were each hyper- 

 plastic in 105 cases (88 per cent). The spleen was small or normal in 68 

 cases (70 per cent). "In our experience, enlargement of the spleen is not 

 a part of the pathology of status lymphaticus, and should not be taken into 

 clinical account except as it has to do with associated conditions. 77 



The status lymphaticus has become so important that James Ewing 

 (&), consulting pathologist of the Surgeon General 7 s office, asked that 

 medical officers of the army note and report the effect of military life on 

 men of this type. As an illustration of such happenings, we may quote 

 from Kice the following case history of a sudden death : "Lieut. C. C. N., 

 age twenty-nine, was and had been in good health when he was given 0.5 

 c.c. of standard U. S. Army bacteria containing paratyphoid A and B, 

 about 4 p. m., August 18, 1918. The bacterin was given under the sub- 

 cutaneous tissue of the left arm over the deltoid, and he neither complained 

 nor demonstrated any symptoms of shock, but during dinner he complained 

 of headache and indefinite hot and cold flashes in his lower extremities. 

 Without eating as much as usual he left the table and went to his room, 

 after which he was not seen during the evening. Nothing unusual occurred 

 in his room, but one of the officers thinks that he went to the bathroom and 

 vomited about 11 p. m. The following morning he did not come to break- 

 fast, and some one went to this room at 7 :30 a. m., where he was found 

 dead in his bunk. He was lying on his back in a comfortable position, 

 one hand resting on his abdomen, the other at his side, the fingers re- 

 laxed. His pupils were equal and normal, neither the tongue nor the lips 

 had been bitten, nor were there any signs of a struggle or of violence about 

 the body. At 4 p. m. I performed an autopsy and found a complete pic- 

 ture of status lymphaticus. There was a small excess of straw colored 



