PARATHYROID GLANDS 83 



way in which it absorbs the subcutaneous thickening 

 of myxoedema and cretinism. It is not surprising, 

 therefore, that it should be able to deal also with 

 gummata and atheroma. By its absorptive effect 

 on the atheroma, it may work some improvement in 

 aneurysm. 



I have found thyroid extract quite as effectual as 

 iodide of potassium in heahng tertiary syphilitic 

 ulcers. 



EXOPHTHALMIC GOITRE. 



The arguments in favour of the hypersecretion 

 theory of this disease appear to almost all observers 

 to be of overwhelming strength. The thyroid 

 gland is enlarged, vascular, and soft in most cases ; 

 occasionally it is normal in size. Microscopically, 

 the acini are dilated and irregular, and the contents 

 too watery. These are just the changes seen in the 

 actively secreting fragment left after a sub-total 

 thyroidectomy. The colloid contains too much 

 iodothyrin as compared with the normal gland. 

 The wasting, restlessness, and quick pulse may all 

 be reproduced with constancy in man or animals 

 by thyroid feeding, and exophthalmos has also been 

 obtained occasionally in both man and the monkey. 

 The underlying cause of the hypersecretion is still 

 unknown, A few cases may be lighted up by fright 

 or by iodoform poisoning. 



PRACTICAL DEDUCTIONS. 



We may seek here to summarize the conclusions, 

 in so far as they are of importance to the cUnician, 



