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In the course of investigations of hormonal effects on connective tissue in these laboratories, our attention was drawn to the problem of localized myxedema. As a result of our clinical impression that ,this lesion was often associated with progressive exophthalmos, the studies to be reported here were initiated. Recently, Curtis(1) has also pointed out that the two conditions occur frequently in the same patient, and have a very similar clinical course.The primary pathological change in localized myxedema is an infiltration of the dermis by a mucinous intercellular and interfibrillar ground substance, (2,3) Watson and Pearce, (4) by direct chlemical analysis of skin from patients with pretibial myxedema, demonstrated a marked increase in hyaluronic acid, chondroitin sulfuric acid, anld m t e r in the affected areas.Experimental exophthalmos has been produced in guinea pigs by several investigators both by thyroidectomy and with extracts of the adenohypophysis containing the thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) ( 5 ) .Smelser (6,7) reported that the orbital tissues of such animals were edematous and contained a stainable a,morphous material

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