The effect of the ingestion of thyroid extract on normal and myxedematous people has been studied by several observers. The general opinion seems to be that cases of myxedema and cretinism respond readily to thyroid extract by a considerable increase in basal metabolism, and that normal and obese people, while usually affected, respond to a less marked degree. DuBois1 reports a case of cretinism whose basal metabolism rose 20 per cent. in three and one-half days under the influence of thyroid extract.
The amounts of thyroid extract employed differ greatly in the investigations on normal and obese individuals. A patient with obesity studied by Magnus-Levy2 received the largest dose of thyroid extract that we know of— from 3 to 5 gm. daily for nineteen days. Anderson and Bergman3 used large doses, but only for one day before observations. Thiele and Nehring4 used doses up to 0.9 gm. a day. Observations