We can also observe clinically that removal or degeneration of the thyroid are capable of producing changes in the kidneys; for after the operation, as a rule, albumin appears in the urine. In myxœdema and hypothyroidia there is also very frequently albumin in the urine, as well as hyalin or granular casts. In such cases the urine is usually not copious; very frequently it is scanty (oliguria), and its light color and low specific gravity show that the solids have been retained in the body. In such cases there is often retention of uric acid. In a communication to the Paris Biological Society (February 25, 1905) we attributed gout to changes in the kidneys giving retention of uric acid, after primary alterations of the thyroid as the cause (see also Chapter V). That the intestines also suffer changes after degeneration of the thyroid is best established by the fact that there is obstinate constipation in such cases,—as in myxœdema or in partial myxœdema and hypothyroidia (old age). The functions of the skin also will be diminished after degeneration of the thyroid, as we observe plainly in the conditions of myxœdema and hypothyroidia. In these diseased conditions there is an atrophy of the sudorific and sebaceous glands, so that the skin cannot perspire; on this account a large amount of toxic products is retained. We can see plainly from the above that when a person has a degenerated thyroid a condition of auto-intoxication must necessarily follow, as there is in consequence a degeneration also of the other organs which destroy and eliminate poisonous materials. The liver in such a case will not be able to fulfill its function of destroying a mass of poisonous substances; the sluggish kidneys and bowels will not eliminate them sufficiently, and dry skin will also contribute to their retention, since its insensible respiration is not taking place. All these life-shortening agencies, which may combine to cause premature old age, can be brought back to a primary cause—the degeneration of the thyroid gland. When the thyroid is removed from an animal, but the parathyroids are allowed to remain, that animal will not then suffer convulsions, but will only present the symptoms of cachexia typical of the operative cases of myxœdema. It has been shown by Gley, Vassale, and Generali, that these very small glandular organs, of which there are four, two internal and two external ones, possess quite a different structure from the thyroid gland. It has been demonstrated by many authorities, among them Jeandelize, that the convulsions which follow the removal of the thyroid are due to the fact that the parathyroids have been removed completely, together with the thyroid gland. Jeandelize was able to produce convulsions by merely removing the parathyroids alone; he attributed tetany and epilepsy to the changes in the parathyroids, in common with other authorities, who have even obtained good results in epilepsy with parathyroid treatment.