Myxedema proper is a constitutional condition due to the loss of the function of the thyroid gland. The disease was first described by Sir William Gull as a cretinoid change, and later by William Ord of London, who suggested the name. It is characterized clinically by a myxedematous condition of the subcutaneous tissues and mental failure, and anatomically by atrophy of the thyroid gland. The symptoms of myxedema, as given by Ord, are marked increase in the general bulk of the body, a firm, inelastic swelling of the skin, which does not pit on pressure; dryness and roughness which tend, with swelling, to obliterate the lines of expression in the face; imperfect nutrition of the hair; local tumefaction of the skin and subcutaneous tissues, particularly in the supraclavicular region.
The physiognomy is remarkably altered; the features are coarse and broad, the lips thick, the nostrils broad and thick, and the mouth enlarged. There is a striking slowness of thought and of movement; the memory fails, and conditions leading to incipient dementia intervene. The functions of the thoracic and abdominal organs seem to be normal, and death is generally due to some intercurrent disease, possibly tuberculosis. A condition akin to myxedema occurs after operative removal of the thyroid gland.
In a most interesting lecture Brissaud shows the intimate relation between myxedema, endemic cretinism, sporadic cretinism, or myxedematous idiocy, and infantilism. He considers that they are all dependent upon an inherited or acquired deficiency or disease of the thyroid gland, and he presents cases illustrating each affection. Figure 285 shows a case of myxedema, one of myxedema in a case of arrested development--a transition case between myxedema of the ***** and sporadic cretinism--and a typical case of sporadic cretinism.
Cagots are an outcast race or clan of dwarfs in the region of the Pyrenees, and formerly in Brittany, whose existence has been a scientific problem since the sixteenth century, at which period they were known as Cagots, Gahets, Gafets, Agotacs, in France;Agotes or Gafos, in Spain; and Cacous, in Lower Brittany. Cagot meant the dog of a Goth; they were of supposed Gothic origin by some, and of Tartar origin by others. These people were formerly supposed to have been the descendants of lepers, or to have been the victims of leprosy themselves. From the descriptions there is a decided difference between the Cagots and the cretins. In a recent issue of Cosmos a writer describes Cagots as follows:--"They inhabit the valley of the Ribas in the northwestern part of the Spanish province now called Gerona. They never exceed 51 1/2inches in height, and have short, ill-formed legs, great bellies, small eyes, flat noses, and pale, unwholesome complexions. They are usually stupid, often to the verge of idiocy, and much subject to goiter and scrofulous affections. The chief town of the Ribas Valley is Ribas, a place of 1500 inhabitants. about 800feet above sea-level. The mountains rise about the town to a height of from 6000 to 8000 feet, and command an amazingly beautiful panorama of mountain, plain, and river, with Spanish cities visible upon the one side and French upon the other. The region is rich, both agriculturally and minerally, and is famous for its medicinal springs. In this paradise dwell the dwarfs, perhaps as degraded a race of men and women as may be found in any civilized community. They are almost without education, and inhabit wretched huts when they have any shelter. The most intelligent are employed as shepherds, and in summer they live for months at an elevation of more than 6000 feet without shelter. Here they see no human creature save some of their own kind, often idiots, who are sent up every fifteen or twenty days with a supply of food.
"It is said that formal marriage is almost unknown among them.
The women in some instances are employed in the village of Ribas as nurses for children, and as such are found tender and faithful. Before communication throughout the region was as easy as it is now, it was thought lucky to have one of these dwarfs in a family, and the dwarfs were hired out and even sold to be used in beggary in neighboring cities. There are somewhat similar dwarfs in other valleys of the Pyrenees, but the number is decreasing, and those of the Ribas Valley are reduced to a few individuals."Hiccough is a symptom due to intermittent, sudden contraction of the diaphragm. Obstinate cases are most peculiar, and sometimes exhaust the physician's skill. Symes divides these cases into four groups:--(1) Inflammatory, seen particularly in inflammatory diseases of the viscera or abdominal membranes, and in severe cases of typhoid fever.
(2) Irritative, as in direct stimulus of the diaphragm in swallowing some very hot substance; local disease of the esophagus near the diaphragm, and in many conditions of gastric and intestinal disorder, more particularly those associated with flatus.
(3) Specific or idiopathic, in which there are no evident causes present; it is sometimes seen in cases of nephritis and diabetes.
(4) Neurotic, in which the primary cause is in the nervous system,--hysteria, epilepsy, shock, or cerebral tumors.
The obstinacy of continued hiccough has long been discussed.
Osler calls to mind that in Plato's "Symposium" the physician, Eryximachus, recommended to Aristophanes, who had hiccough from eating too much, either to hold his breath or to gargle with a little water; but if it still continued, "tickle your nose with something and sneeze, and if you sneeze once or twice even the most violent hiccough is sure to go." The attack must have been a severe one, as it is stated subsequently that the hiccough did not disappear until Aristophanes had excited the sneezing.