MODERN MAGIC.

Grey River Argus, 27 April 1911, Page 7

MODERN MAGIC.

: ♦^ REMARKABLE CUIIES OF THE INSANE. Remarkable instances of t/he cure of insanity are given by Dr George M. Robertson, physician superintendent of the Royal Edinburgh Asylum for the Insane, in his annual report, pubished in the Scotsman. "Among the recoveries during 1910," says Dr. Robertson, "a series ot 'three cases of a most instructive kind show the . progress that scierue is slowly but surely making-. Two of these cases would have been deemed incurable 20 years ago. "The first patient suffered from the insanity of myzoedema, a disease due to the defective secretion of a gl.md in the neck, called the thyroid. Owing to the absence of this secretion from her blood, in a few weeks' time the whole body inceased in bulk, and the movements became slow, the expression of the face changed completely, and even the , tone of voice altered in character, She became dhildish in mind, expressed silly delusions, and heard imaginary voices. "The patient was given tablets prepared from the thyroid gland of the sheep, and in a week she was tansformed from a mis-shapen, stupid ' object into a bright and pleasantfeatured woman — her natural self, and quite unrecognisable as the creature of a week before. "A few centuries ago these kaleidoscopic changes would 'have been put down to magic, the spell of an offended wizard transforming- her body and soul and a counter-charm restoring- her original shape and personality. To-day every medical man knows the secret, and people have ceased to be astonished at such thing's Nevertheless it is a miracle of science." . - The second case of insanity was due to an excess of the secretion of the thyroid in the blood. "This tends to produce great nervousness and excitability and many other symptoms, such as palpitation. There- is a theory, not yet established, that excess of thyroid secretion is neutralised by a substance in the blood. In this case, according- to the theory, there was- not sufficient of tliis substance to neutralise the great excess., so she was supplied for this purpose with serum from a goat whose thyroid gland had Ibeen removed. <In this serum none of this special substance 'had been used up, there "being- no secretion present, and apparently as the result of this treatment the patient lecovered." Dr Roberston adds: "A feature of the research"' work recently done m our laboratories is the wave of optimism it has produced."