THE THYROID GLAND. 



127 



and the mental powers fail to develop. It thus becomes idiotic, 

 and although it may live for years, it will remain even at thirty 

 years of age, a stunted, pot-bellied, ugly creature with the intel- 

 ligence of an infant. The cause of this failure to develop is un- 

 doubtedly bound up in some way with the deficiency of the thy- 

 roid, for if the cretin be given extract of this gland, its condition 

 will immediately improve, and indeed, if taken early enough, it 

 may quickly make up for lost time and grow both physically and 

 mentally as it ought to. 



Atrophy of the thyroid gland in older persons causes myxoe- 

 dema. (Fig. 11). The symptoms of this are very characteris- 



Fig. 11. A, Case of myxoedema ; B, Same after seven months' treatment. 

 (Tigerstedt.) 



tic, being most commonly seen in women. The skin is dry 

 and often of a yellowish color, the hair falls out, the subcutaneous 

 tissues grow excessively, so that the hands, the feet and the face 

 become large and puffy, and the speech indistinct, because of the 

 thickening of the lips. The metabolism also becomes very slug- 

 gish, so that the intake of food and the excretion of nitrogen in 

 the urine become diminished, and the temperature subnormal. If 



