200 THE SEX-COMPLEX 



Pancreatic however, commonly supposed that minor degrees of 

 ciency. j nsu ffi c j enC y ? as measured by the constancy and degree 

 of glycosuria, do not effect the functions of menstruation 

 and conception to any recognizable extent. 



Carlson 1 states that diabetes tends to produce 

 impotence and loss of sexual desire, both in men and 

 women, and that in women diabetes of marked severity 

 causes amenorrhcea, sterility and premature menopause 

 with atrophy of the uterus. This, however, can hardly 

 be considered a specific genital syndrome, but rather the 

 result of impaired vital processes. 



As already mentioned, conception is incompatible 

 with the more advanced stages of diabetic glycosuria ; 

 and it is stated 2 ' 3 that, when conception does take place 

 in women with diabetes, 50 per cent, of the foetus are 

 still-born or die shortly after delivery. But, as we have 

 seen (p. 81), the normal pancreatic hormones of the 

 foetus may be conveyed to the mother. 



The low sugar-tolerance and the glycosuria of preg- 

 nancy, which may be unassociated with pancreatic lesions 

 (see p. 198), must be differentiated from pancreatic 

 diabetes ; and, needless to say, lactosuria, which is 

 normally seen in the later stages of gestation and during 

 lactation, is connected with the formation of milk in the 

 mammae, and is not related to any abnormal disturbance 

 in the carbohydrate metabolism. 



Disorders of the Thymus 



involution of Inactivity of the Thymus. — This, so far as we 

 the thymus. j£ n0Wj j s natural after puberty, when the genitalia are 

 fully developed. 



Nothing is definitely known concerning premature 

 involution of the thymus ; but if it be that there is a 

 close relationship between the onset of puberty — that is, 



1 Carlson A. J., Trans. Amer. Gynecol. Soc, 1917, vol. xlii, p. 131. 



2 Fellner 0. 0. (quoted by A. J. Carlson, Trans. Amer. Gynecol. 

 Soc, 1917, vol. xlii, p. 131). 



3 Fruhinsholz, A., Ann. Gynecol, 1913, vol. x, 2 c,ne ser., p. 477. 



