26 GLANDS IN HEALTH AND DISEASE 



stances were given various names, and their dis- 

 coverers claimed that their iodine compounds could 

 do all that the gland extract itself could do : that, 

 in short, such substances could be employed in the 

 place of the gland extract in the treatment of cre- 

 tinism and myxedema. Many have been the state- 

 ments for and against the use of such preparations. 

 Lately, however, E. C. Kendall, working at the 

 newly-created Mayo Foundation in Rochester, has, 

 after some ten years of intensive work, actually 

 succeeded in isolating the iodine compound in a 

 pure form. He calls it "thyroxin," and the com- 

 pound contains no less than 60 per cent, of iodine. 

 It has already been extensively used by Kendall 

 and others in the treatment of thyroid deficiency 

 diseases, with marked success in almost all cases. 

 "This could be made even stronger, as we have 

 not found a single case of thyroid deficiency that 

 has not responded to an intravenous injection of 

 thyroxin ; and, furthermore, the response is a quan- 

 titative one. That is, for every milligram (one- 

 thousandth of one gram, and 2% grams correspond 

 to one ounce) injected, the basal metabolic rate 

 (see p. 39) increases 2~y 2 per cent." (E. C. Ken- 

 dall.) This constitutes another triumph for the 

 chemist in his application of chemistry to medi- 

 cine. 1 



1 Kendall's work. This work of Kendall's is of such importance 

 that it warrants further discussion. As, however, some knowl- 



