﻿xlvi 
  Obituary 
  Notices 
  of 
  Fellows 
  deceased. 
  

  

  researches 
  of 
  Horsley 
  on 
  the 
  thyroid, 
  and 
  by 
  those 
  of 
  Oliver 
  and 
  Schafer 
  on 
  

   the 
  supra 
  -renal. 
  

  

  In 
  1882 
  to 
  1883, 
  the 
  Swiss 
  surgeons, 
  Kocher 
  and 
  Eeverdin, 
  published 
  their 
  

   results 
  of 
  operations 
  upon 
  the 
  thyroid 
  gland 
  for 
  goitre, 
  which 
  was 
  followed 
  

   by 
  " 
  Myxoedeme 
  Operatoire." 
  In 
  November, 
  1883, 
  a 
  committee 
  of 
  the 
  

   Clinical 
  Society 
  recognising 
  " 
  the 
  hitherto 
  undreamt 
  of 
  importance 
  of 
  the 
  

   thyroid 
  gland," 
  asked 
  Horsley 
  to 
  study 
  it 
  by 
  the 
  experimental 
  method. 
  This 
  

   he 
  did 
  upon 
  monkeys, 
  and 
  a 
  year 
  later 
  he 
  gave 
  two 
  lectures 
  at 
  the 
  University 
  

   of 
  London, 
  embodying 
  his 
  results, 
  entitled 
  — 
  " 
  The 
  Thyroid 
  Gland 
  : 
  its 
  

   Eelation 
  to 
  the 
  Pathology 
  of 
  Myxcedema 
  and 
  Cretinism, 
  to 
  the 
  Question 
  of 
  

   the 
  Surgical 
  Treatment 
  of 
  Goitre, 
  and 
  to 
  the 
  General 
  Nutrition 
  of 
  the 
  Body." 
  

   This 
  title 
  is 
  comprehensive 
  and 
  exhibits 
  the 
  characteristics 
  of 
  Horsley, 
  for 
  it 
  

   shows 
  that 
  he 
  had 
  studied 
  the 
  subject 
  as 
  a 
  physiologist, 
  pathologist, 
  and 
  a 
  

   surgeon. 
  

  

  To 
  Schiff, 
  however, 
  belongs 
  the 
  credit 
  of 
  having 
  first 
  produced 
  an 
  

   experimental" 
  Cachexia 
  strumipriva 
  with 
  tremors 
  in 
  dogs 
  and 
  rodents. 
  

   Horsley, 
  in 
  a 
  letter 
  to 
  Schafer, 
  remarks 
  : 
  " 
  Well, 
  we 
  did 
  four 
  monkeys 
  last 
  

   week, 
  and 
  one 
  of 
  them 
  has 
  the 
  same 
  tremors." 
  It 
  seems 
  that 
  Horsley 
  did 
  not 
  

   recognise 
  in 
  his 
  report 
  hoiv 
  the 
  myxcedema 
  was 
  produced, 
  and 
  it 
  was 
  not 
  until 
  

   1890, 
  when 
  he 
  published 
  in 
  the 
  ' 
  British 
  Medical 
  Journal,' 
  " 
  A 
  Note 
  on 
  the 
  

   Possible 
  Means 
  of 
  Arresting 
  the 
  Progress 
  of 
  Myxcedema, 
  Cachexia 
  strumipriva, 
  

   and 
  Allied 
  Diseases," 
  that 
  he 
  admitted 
  the 
  importance 
  of 
  the 
  successful 
  

   transplantation 
  experiments 
  of 
  Schiff 
  and 
  von 
  Eiselberg 
  — 
  and 
  he 
  then 
  

   proposed 
  that, 
  as 
  soon 
  as 
  opportunity 
  offered, 
  to 
  try 
  transplanting 
  a 
  portion 
  

   of 
  the 
  thyroid 
  gland 
  of 
  a 
  sheep. 
  A 
  short 
  time 
  after, 
  the 
  treatment 
  of 
  

   myxcedema 
  by 
  transplantation 
  of 
  the 
  gland 
  was 
  replaced 
  by 
  administration 
  

   of 
  it 
  by 
  the 
  mouth. 
  It 
  is 
  a 
  remarkable 
  biological 
  fact 
  that 
  this 
  gland, 
  the 
  

   secretion 
  of 
  which 
  was 
  once 
  poured 
  through 
  a 
  duct 
  into 
  the 
  alimentary 
  canal, 
  

   is 
  effective 
  when 
  administered 
  by 
  the 
  mouth, 
  whereas 
  other 
  ductless 
  glands, 
  

   e.g. 
  the 
  supra- 
  renal, 
  are 
  not. 
  Whether 
  it 
  was 
  chance, 
  or 
  the 
  knowledge 
  of 
  this 
  

   biological 
  fact, 
  which 
  led 
  Dr. 
  George 
  Murray 
  to 
  try 
  this 
  treatment 
  in 
  practice, 
  

   it 
  has 
  turned 
  out 
  to 
  be 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  greatest 
  advances 
  in 
  medical 
  therapeutics. 
  

  

  Although 
  the 
  scientific 
  work 
  already 
  mentioned 
  as 
  accomplished 
  by 
  

   Horsley 
  had 
  been 
  sufficient 
  to 
  lead 
  to 
  his 
  election 
  in 
  1886 
  to 
  the 
  Fellowship 
  

   of 
  the 
  Boyal 
  Society, 
  his 
  pre-eminence 
  as 
  a 
  pioneer 
  in 
  Cerebral 
  Localisation 
  

   and 
  ics 
  practical 
  application 
  to 
  brain 
  surgery 
  will 
  stand 
  for 
  all 
  time. 
  From 
  

   1884 
  to 
  1891, 
  he 
  published 
  in 
  the 
  ' 
  Philosophical 
  Transactions,' 
  in 
  conjunction 
  

   with 
  Schafer, 
  Beevor, 
  Semon, 
  Walter 
  Spencer, 
  and 
  Gotch, 
  eight 
  papers, 
  

   525 
  pages 
  in 
  all, 
  with 
  33 
  plates. 
  Mr. 
  Paget 
  thus 
  admirably 
  sums 
  up 
  this 
  

   work 
  : 
  "First, 
  there 
  was 
  the 
  more 
  general 
  work 
  with 
  Schafer, 
  then 
  the 
  more 
  

   special 
  work 
  with 
  Beevor 
  — 
  the 
  study 
  of 
  localisation 
  in 
  one 
  species 
  of 
  monkey 
  ; 
  

   the 
  study 
  of 
  localisation, 
  not 
  only 
  at 
  the 
  level 
  of 
  the 
  surface 
  of 
  the 
  brain, 
  

   but 
  at 
  the 
  level 
  of 
  the 
  nerve 
  fibres 
  passing 
  from 
  the 
  surfaces 
  of 
  the 
  brain 
  

   towards 
  the 
  spinal 
  cord, 
  and 
  the 
  single 
  study 
  of 
  an 
  anthropoid 
  brain." 
  The 
  

  

  