348 OCCURRENCE OF IODINE IN THE 



ovarian substance (pig's) and salivary gland (ox's) without 

 being able to detect this element. 



In his earlier experience, Baumann * was unable to detect 

 iodine in the thymus gland; later, however, in 200 grams of 

 fresh thymus glands of the calf, he succeeded in detecting 

 T^T- rV m gr- iodine. f Considering this result in connection 

 with the observations of Mikulicz J on the efficiency of thymus 

 feeding in goitre, Baumann regarded it as probable that the 

 thymus contains iodine in the form of thyroiodine (iodothyrin), 

 although in much smaller quantity than in the case of the 

 thyroid. Further observations on the thymus scarcely exist 

 Cunningham has repeatedly tested the thymus for iodine 

 without success, and suggests " that possibly accessory thyroid 

 bodies were present in the thymus examined by Baumann." 

 H. G. Wells analyzed the thymus glands of four children. 

 " In one from a four months old child, and in one from a still- 

 born infant, slight traces of iodine could be detected. In the 

 other two, which were both from still-born infants, no traces 

 whatever could be detected, even when three grams of the 

 dried glands were examined at one time." || 



The writer's attention was first directed more closely to this 

 subject through the examination of a rather unusual accessory 

 thyroid found in the thoracic cavity in a well defined case of 

 acromegaly.^]" In this case the thyroid proper, which was en- 

 larged and weighed 101 grams, contained a relatively small 

 amount of iodine, in correspondence with the histological find- 

 ings on examination of the gland. Thus there was a marked 

 increase in the connective tissue as compared with a normal 

 gland; while the colloid material was decreased. The later 

 observations of Hutchison** and Oswald ff have shown, how- 



* Baumann, Zeitschrift fur physiol. Chemie, 1895, xxi, p. 825. 



t Baumann, Miinchner medicinische Wochenschrift, 1896, No. 14. 



\ Mikulicz, Berliner kliniscbe Wochenschrift, 1895, No. 16. 



Cunningham, Journal of Experimental Medicine, 1898, iii, p. 231 note. 



|| Wells, H. G., loc. cit. 



1 Osborne, O. T., Transactions of the Association of American Physicians, 

 1897, p. 262. 



** Hutchison, Journal of Physiology, 1896, xx, p. 474. 

 tt Oswald, Zeitschrift fiir physiol. Chemie, 1897, xxiii, p. 810. 



