xxxii, Part I, 1895). His
facts tend to prove that in chlorosis there are signs of general
ill-development, and that, in particular, there is imperfect
development of the breasts and sexual organs, with a tendency to
contracted pelvis. Charrin, again, regards utero-ovarian
inadequacy as at least one of the factors of chlorosis.
Chlorosis, in its extreme form, may thus be regarded as a
disorder of development, a sign of physical degeneracy. Even if
not strictly a cause, a congenital condition may, as Stockman
believes (_British Medical Journal_, December 14, 1895), be a
predisposing influence.
However it may be in extreme cases, there is very considerable
evidence to indicate that the ordinary anaemia of young women may
be due to a storing up of iron in the system, and is so far
normal, being a preparation for the function of reproduction.
Some observations of Bunge's seem to throw much light on the real
cause of what may be termed physiological chlorosis. He found by
a series of experiments on animals of different ages that young
animals contain a much greater amount of iron in their tissues
than adult animals; that, for instance, the body of a rabbit an
hour after birth contains more than four times as much iron as
that of a rabbit two and a half months old. It thus appears
probable that at the period of puberty, and later, there is a
storage of iron in the system preparatory to the exercise of the
maternal functions.
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