26 PHYSIOLOGY CHAP. 



phenomena of thyroid insufficiency will thus consist mainly in the 

 effects of the progressive accumulation in the blood and tissues of 

 these products, owing to the altered or retarded secretory function 

 of the epithelium. 



That the kidneys do not function normally in dethyroidised 

 animals may be argued from the alburninuria that accompanies 

 tetania thyreopriva, as also from the lesions which are invariably 

 found in the kidneys of dethyroidised animals, ranging from a 

 simple albuminoid degeneration of the epithelia of the canaliculi 

 to severe parenchymatous nephritis (Alonzo, Hofmeister, etc.). 



Blum (1901) found nephritic alterations of greater or less 

 gravity in dogs that had survived thyroidectomy for at least eight 

 days. He, too, attributed the origin of these to auto-intoxication, 

 which according to him is of an enterogeneous nature, due, i.e., to 

 the suppression of the antitoxic activity of the thyroid, which 

 normally has the task of destroying the enterotoxins. 



Bensen (1902), again, who particularly devoted himself to the 

 histology of the lesions of various organs in the rabbit incident 

 on thyroidectomy, arrived at a conclusion that coincides with the 

 above. He admitted that, "after thyroidectomy, owing to the 

 suppression of the thyroid gland, a poison is produced or retained 

 in the body, which determines a characteristic degeneration of the 

 cell protoplasm, especially in the kidneys, liver, and myocardium, 

 leading eventually to the destruction of the cells. The products 

 of protoplasmic degeneration appear in the form of colloidal 

 spherules or cylinders in the renal canaliculi. When the morbid 

 state is protracted an interstitial nephritis is readily set up, leading 

 to the formation of scars, similar to those which Blum describes 

 in dogs." 



The theory of the intimate functional relations between the 

 thyro-parathyroid apparatus and the kidneys, however, finds its 

 fullest experimental confirmation in the studies of Coronedi (1907) 

 and his pupils. In the first place, this author observed that the 

 alterations of the kidney (consisting in inflammatory and de- 

 generative processes) in animals exhibiting symptoms of a defective 

 thyro-parathyroid system is a constant fact, certain to appear, 

 and, at least within certain limits, proportional to the intensity 

 and gravity of the pathological symptoms. It is worth noting that 

 the lesions may be present even when the syndrome of symptoms 

 has scarcely been initiated. 



While the amount of katabolites increases after excision of the 

 thyroid and parathyroids, and the elaboration of these products is 

 never fully accomplished, the functional capacity of the kidneys 

 diminishes pari passu. Hence a true intoxication of retention 

 ensues, which, if not identical with, is at any rate highly similar 

 to, uraemia. 



Coronedi believes that among its other functions the internal 



