Extirpation of all but a small section of the swelling may be successfully accomplished by a qualified veterinarian, but if it should be entirely removed, myxedema and death follow.
"Special Report on Diseases of Cattle"
U.S. Department of Agriculture J.R. Mohler
In 1882, J.L. Reverdin, another surgeon of Geneva, noticed that in man complete removal of the thyroid was followed by symptoms identical with those collected under the name of myxedema, and used the phrase "operative myxedema" to emphasize his conviction of the connection between them.
"The Glands Regulating Personality"
Louis Berman, M.D.
It was bound to occur to someone that if human myxedema and animal experimental myxedema were one and the same, Schiff's procedure of prevention and cure by feeding thyroid gland by mouth in the latter could be applied to the former.
"The Glands Regulating Personality"
Louis Berman, M.D.