THE CONTROL OF EXPERIMENTAL CRETINISM

Abstract

The work reported in this paper was undertaken at the suggestion of A. J. Carlson, primarily for establishing a biological test for the active principle of the thyroid gland in the blood. A few years ago Hunt,¹ by means of the acetonitril test, thought that he had a reliable test for the active principle of the thyroid in the blood. Later investigators (Carlson and Woelfel,² Lussky³) failed to detect any active principle of the thyroid in the blood of the dog, and in rabbits and guinea-pigs in experimental hyperthyroidism by means of this test. Hunt studied the blood of clinical cases of exophthalmic goiter and obtained a positive test in two out of three cases. On the other hand, Carlson and Woelfel could not get a positive reaction in a case studied by them. Carlson also tested his own blood after having taken thyroid until toxic