2 



Scientific Proceedings. 



conditions improved markedly when the feeding of oil was sus- 

 pended. 



Calcium lactate, lime water, Fowler's solution and tincture of 

 ferric chloride were fed at different times with the olive oil without, 

 however, appreciably diminishing the effect of the oil. The action 

 of the olive oil depends upon its content of triolein (oleic acid). 

 Pure oleic acid was fed to a rabbit and found to be no more toxic 

 than olive oil. 



A noteworthy phenomenon in the chronically poisoned rabbits 

 was a swelling of the heels, evidently hematomata, which came 

 on suddenly in all of the rabbits, furthermore a crusted suppurating 

 skin lesion which appeared on the inner surfaces of the ears of six 

 out of eight of the rabbits. 



The post mortem examination of the rabbits which died after 

 only a few doses showed practically nothing except a slight con- 

 gestion of the small intestine. In the autopsies on rabbits which 

 had received many doses general absence of fatty deposits together 

 with fatty changes in liver, heart and kidneys and an atrophic 

 condition of the spleen and lymphoid apparatus were noted. 



From this and from the appearances observed in human beings 

 suffering from pernicious anemia, it is fair to assume that the 

 lymphoid tissue, particularly of the intestine, is chiefly concerned 

 in handling the fat absorbed from the food by the intestine. 



2 (611) 



The influence of age on the symptoms following 

 thyro-parathyroidectomy. 



By SUTHERLAND SIMPSON. 



[From the Physiological Laboratory, Medical College, Cornell 

 University, Ithaca, N. Y.] 



With regard to the question as to whether the thryoid and 

 parathyroid glands become less and less essential to the organism 

 as age advances there is some difference of opinion. Vincent 

 and Jolly 1 found that in the various species of animals which they 

 used (cats, dogs, foxes, monkeys, rats, guinea-pigs, rabbits), the 

 symptoms following thyroidectomy and parathyroidectomy were 



1 Vincent and Jolly, Jour, of Physiology, 1904, xxxii, p. 80. 



