1-158-540 - Oxford Science Archive/Heritage Images

Cretin aged 15, c1890.Cretinism in infants and children is caused by a defective thyroid gland and failure to produce the hormone thyroxine. Sufferers are mentally and physically retarded. The thyroid is part of the endocrine system. From Les Grands Maux et les Grands Remedes (The Principal Illnesses and Their Remedies) by Jules Rengade. (Paris, c1890).