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Textbook Greenspans Basic and Clinical Endocrinology 10Th Edition David G Gardner Ebook All Chapter PDF
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a LANGE medical book
Greenspan’s
Basic & Clinical
Endocrinology
Tenth Edition
Edited by
David G. Gardner, MD, MS
Mount Zion Health Fund Distinguished Professor of
Endocrinology and Medicine
Chief, Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism
Department of Medicine and Diabetes Center
University of California, San Francisco
Dolores Shoback, MD
Professor of Medicine
Department of Medicine
University of California, San Francisco
Staff Physician, Endocrine-Metabolism Section,
Department of Medicine
San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center
New York Chicago San Francisco Athens London Madrid Mexico City
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Francis Sorrel Greenspan, M.D. (1920-2016)
The tenth edition of Greenspan’s Basic & Clinical Endocrinology is dedicated to the memories of four outstanding
endocrinologists—Dr. John Baxter, Dr. Claude Arnaud, Dr. Melvin Grumbach, and, most especially, Dr. Francis Greenspan
who was responsible for taking the initial steps to assemble this textbook more than thirty years ago. Each of these individu-
als was an outstanding endocrine scientist and/or clinical endocrinologist in the global endocrine community, and each
contributed enormously to the success of this textbook.
Treatment for Patients with Recurrent or Metastatic Complications and Sequelae 428
Pheochromocytoma and Paraganglioma 405 Treatment 428
Prognosis 408 Congenital Bilateral Anorchia (Vanishing Testes
Pheochromocytoma and Paraganglioma: Postoperative Syndrome) 429
Long-Term Surveillance 409 Etiology and Pathophysiology 429
Testicular Pathology 429
12. Testes 413 Clinical Features 429
Bradley D. Anawalt, MD and Differential Diagnosis 429
Treatment 429
Glenn D. Braunstein, MD
Leydig Cell Aplasia 429
Anatomy and Structure-Function Relationships 413 Etiology and Pathophysiology 429
Testes 413 Clinical Features 429
Accessory Structures 415 Differential Diagnosis 430
Physiology of the Male Reproductive System 415 Treatment 430
Gonadal Steroids 415 Noonan Syndrome (Male Turner Syndrome) 430
Control of Testicular Function 417 Clinical Features 430
Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Leydig Cell Axis 417 Differential Diagnosis 430
Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Seminiferous Tubular Treatment 430
Axis 418 Causes of Primary Hypogonadism Presenting in
Evaluation of Male Gonadal Function 418 Adulthood 430
Clinical Evaluation 418 Myotonic Dystrophy 430
Clinical Presentation 418 Clinical Features 430
Genital Examination 419 Treatment 431
Laboratory Tests of Testicular Function 420 Late-Onset Male Hypogonadism 431
Serum Testosterone Measurement 420 Etiology, Pathology, and Pathophysiology 431
Serum Estradiol Measurement 421 Clinical Features 431
Gonadotropin and Prolactin Measurements 421 Differential Diagnosis 431
Special Tests 421 Treatment 431
Semen Analysis 421 Specific Sequelae of Hypogonadism 432
Chorionic Gonadotropin Stimulation Test 422 Male Infertility 432
Testicular Biopsy 422 Etiology and Pathophysiology 432
Evaluation for Male Hypogonadism 422 Clinical Features 433
Drugs Used for Testosterone Replacement Therapy in Male Treatment 433
Hypogonadism 422 Course and Prognosis 434
Androgens 422 Erectile Dysfunction 434
Oral Androgens 422 Etiology and Pathophysiology 434
Injectable Testosterone Esters 423 Clinical Features 434
Implantable Testosterone Pellets 424 Treatment 436
Transdermal Testosterone Therapy 424 Gynecomastia 436
Gonadotropin Therapy 424 Etiology and Pathophysiology 436
Injectable Human Chorionic Gonadotropin 424 Pathology 437
Recombinant Human Luteinizing Hormone 424 Clinical Features 437
Side Effects of Testosterone Replacement Therapy 424 Differential Diagnosis 438
Clinical Male Gonadal Disorders 425 Complications and Sequelae 439
Syndromes Associated with Primary Gonadal Treatment 439
Dysfunction 425 Course and Prognosis 439
Causes of Primary Hypogonadism Presenting in Testicular Tumors 439
Childhood 425 Etiology and Pathophysiology 439
Klinefelter Syndrome (XXY Seminiferous Tubule Pathology 439
Dysgenesis) 425 Clinical Features 440
Etiology and Pathophysiology 426 Differential Diagnosis 440
Testicular Pathology 426 Treatment 441
Clinical Features 426 Course and Prognosis 441
Differential Diagnosis 427
Treatment 427 13. Female Reproductive Endocrinology
Cryptorchidism 427 and Infertility 443
Etiology and Pathophysiology 427
Pathology 427 Mitchell P. Rosen, MD and Marcelle I. Cedars, MD
Clinical Features 428 Embryology and Anatomy 444
Differential Diagnosis 428 Ovarian Steroidogenesis 446
Physiology of Folliculogenesis and the Menstrual Cycle 448 Initial Formation of the Urogenital Ridges 503
The Hypothalamic-Pituitary Axis 448 The Bipotential Gonads 504
Role of the Pituitary 449 The Unipotential Internal Ducts 504
Role of the Ovary 450 Wolffian Ducts 505
Role of the Uterus 456 Müllerian Ducts 505
Menstrual Disturbances 457 The Bipotential Urogenital Sinus and External
Amenorrhea 457 Genitalia 505
Hypothalamic Amenorrhea 457 Gonadal Differentiation 505
Isolated GnRH Deficiency 457 Testicular Differentiation 505
Pituitary Amenorrhea 461 Ovarian Differentiation 506
Ovarian Amenorrhea 463 Genetic Mechanisms 507
Premature Ovarian Failure 464 The Importance of the Y Chromosome
Anovulation 466 and the SRY Gene 507
Hyperandrogenism and Anovulation 466 Other Pathways in Testicular versus Ovarian
Obesity 474 Differentiation 507
Management of Obesity 474 Differences in Testicular and Ovarian Germ Cell
Anovulation Unrelated to Excess Sex Steroid Development 509
Production 474 Hormone-Dependent Differentiation of the
Outflow Tract Disorders 475 Genitalia 509
Menopause 476 One Gonad, Two Cells, Two Hormones 509
Oocyte Depletion 477 AMH and the Fate of Müllerian Ducts 509
Endocrine System Changes with Aging 478 Regulation of AMH Expression 509
Estrogens/Progesterone 479 AMH Action 510
Androgens 479 Müllerian Derivatives in the Female 510
Hypothalamic/Pituitary 479 Androgens and the Fate of the Wolffian Ducts,
Menopausal Consequences 480 Urogenital Sinus, and External Genitalia 510
Vasomotor Symptoms 480 Steroidogenesis 510
Genital Atrophy 480 Androgen Action in Target Tissues 511
Osteoporosis 480 Wolffian Duct Derivatives 512
Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease 482 The Bipotential Urogenital Sinus 512
Treatment—Summary 482 The Bipotential External Genitalia 513
Infertility 483 Testicular Descent 513
Diagnosis of Infertility 483 Disorders of Sex Differentiation (DSD) 513
Ovulatory Defects 483 Definitions and Historical Perspectives 513
Pelvic Disorders 484 Pathogenic Classification 516
Male Factor Causes 484 Malformative DSD: Defects in the Morphogenesis
Unexplained Infertility 485 of the Urogenital Primordia 516
Management of the Infertile Couple 485 Dysgenetic DSD: Abnormal Gonadal
Ovulatory Disorders 485 Differentiation 519
Pelvic Disorders 485 Non-dysgenetic DSD with Testicular
Male Factor Infertility 485 Differentiation 522
Unexplained Infertility 486 Non-dysgenetic DSD with Ovarian
Contraception 486 Differentiation 525
Oral Contraceptives 486 Management of Patients with DSD 532
Combination Pills 486 General Aspects 532
Progestin Only 490 Diagnostic Workup 534
Contraception: Long-Acting Contraceptives 491 Gender Assignment 539
Injectable Contraceptives 492 Long-Term Outcomes 541
Subdermal Implants 494 Fertility Issues 543
Transdermal Patch 495
Vaginal Rings 496 15. Puberty 547
Intrauterine Devices 496
Emergency Contraception 497 Dennis Styne, MD
Physiology of Puberty 547
14. Disorders of Sex Development 501 Physical Changes Associated with Puberty 547
Rodolfo A. Rey, MD, PhD, Endocrine Changes from Fetal Life to Puberty 551
Christopher P. Houk, MD, Ovulation and Menarche 554
Selma Witchel, MD, and Peter A. Lee, MD, PhD Adrenarche 554
Miscellaneous Metabolic Changes 554
Normal Fetal Sex Differentiation 503
Delayed Puberty or Absent Puberty (Sexual
The Undifferentiated Stage 503
Infantilism) 554
Constitutional Delay in Growth and Adolescence 554 Endocrinology of the Puerperium 588
Hypogonadotropic Hypogonadism 556 Physiologic and Anatomic Changes 588
Hypergonadotropic Hypogonadism 560 Uterine Changes 588
Differential Diagnosis of Delayed Puberty 563 Endocrine Changes 588
Treatment of Delayed Puberty 564 Lactation 589
Precocious Puberty (Sexual Precocity) 566 Endocrine Disorders and Pregnancy 589
Central (Complete or True) Precocious Puberty 566 Hyperthyroidism in Pregnancy 589
Peripheral or Incomplete Isosexual Precocious Puberty in Hypothyroidism in Pregnancy 589
Boys 568 Pituitary Disorders in Pregnancy 589
Peripheral or Incomplete Contrasexual Precocity in Obesity and Pregnancy 590
Boys 568 Parathyroid Disease and Pregnancy 591
Peripheral or Incomplete Isosexual Precocious Puberty Preeclampsia/Eclampsia 591
in Girls 569 Pathophysiology 592
Peripheral or Incomplete Contrasexual Precocity in Clinical Features 592
Girls 569 Treatment/Management of Preeclampsia 592
Variations in Pubertal Development 569
Differential Diagnosis of Precocious 17. Pancreatic Hormones and
Puberty 570 Diabetes Mellitus 595
Treatment of Precocious Puberty 572
Umesh Masharani, MB, BS, MRCP (UK)
16. The Endocrinology of Pregnancy 575 and Michael S. German, MD
Bansari Patel, MD, Joshua F. Nitsche, MD, PhD, The Endocrine Pancreas 596
and Robert N. Taylor, MD, PhD Anatomy and Histology 596
Hormones of the Endocrine Pancreas 597
Conception and Implantation 575 Biosynthesis 597
Fertilization 575 Biochemistry 597
Implantation and hCG Production 576 Secretion 599
Ovarian Hormones of Pregnancy 577 Insulin Receptors and Insulin Action 601
Symptoms and Signs of Pregnancy 577 Metabolic Effects of Insulin 602
Fetal-Placental-Decidual Unit 577 Glucose Transporter Proteins 604
Polypeptide Hormones 577 Islet Amyloid Polypeptide 605
Human Chorionic Gonadotropin 577 Biochemistry 605
Human Placental Lactogen 577 Secretion 605
Other Chorionic Peptide Hormones and Growth Action of Glucagon 605
Factors 580 Glucagon-Related Peptides 606
Steroid Hormones 580 Diabetes Mellitus 609
Progesterone 580 Classification 609
Estrogens 580 Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus 609
Maternal Adaptation to Pregnancy 581 Autoimmunity and Type 1 Diabetes 610
Maternal Pituitary Gland 581 Genetics of Type 1 Diabetes 611
Maternal Thyroid Gland 581 Environmental Factors in Type 1 Diabetes 611
Maternal Parathyroid Gland 581 Type 2 Diabetes 612
Maternal Pancreas 581 Monogenic Diabetes 615
Maternal Adrenal Cortex 583 Autosomal Dominant Genetic Defects of
Fetal Endocrinology 584 Pancreatic b Cells 615
Fetal Pituitary Hormones 584 Other Genetic Defects of Pancreatic b Cells 618
Fetal Thyroid Gland 584 Ketosis-Prone Diabetes 619
Fetal Adrenal Cortex 584 Genetic Defects of Insulin Action 620
Fetal Gonads 584 Neonatal Diabetes 621
Endocrine Control of Parturition 585 Monogenic Autoimmune Syndromes 621
Progesterone and Nuclear Progesterone Other Genetic Syndromes Sometimes Associated
Receptors 585 with Diabetes 621
Estrogens and Nuclear Estrogen Receptors 585 Secondary Diabetes 621
Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone 585 Diabetes due to Diseases of the Exocrine Pancreas 621
Oxytocin 586 Endocrinopathies 622
Prostaglandins 586 Drug- or Chemical-Induced Diabetes 622
Preterm Labor/Birth 586 Infections Causing Diabetes 622
Predictors/Prevention of Preterm Labor 586 Uncommon Forms of Immune-Mediated Diabetes 622
Management of Preterm Labor 587 Clinical Features of Diabetes Mellitus 622
Postterm Pregnancy 587 Type 1 Diabetes 622
Management of Postterm Pregnancy 588
Hormones are signaling molecules that traffic information from itself (autocrine effect), or without actually being released from
one point to another, typically through a soluble medium like the secretory cell (intracrine effect) (Figure 1–1).
the extracellular fluid or blood. Hormones fall into one of a Identification of a tissue as a target for a particular hormone
number of different hormonal classes (eg, steroids, mono- requires the presence of receptors for the hormone in cells of the target
amines, peptides, proteins, and eicosanoids) and signal through tissue. These receptors, in turn, are linked to effector mechanisms that
a variety of general (eg, nuclear vs cell surface) and specific (eg, lead to the physiological effects associated with the hormone.
tyrosine kinase vs phosphoinositide turnover) mechanisms in
target cells.
Hormones produced in one tissue may promote activity in a RELATIONSHIP TO THE NERVOUS
target tissue at some distance from the point of secretion (endo- SYSTEM
crine effect). In this case the hormone travels through the blood-
stream, often bound to a plasma protein, to access the target Many features of the endocrine system, such as the use of ligands
tissue. In addition, hormones may act locally following secretion; and receptors to communicate between cells, are also found in the
either on a neighboring cell (paracrine effect), on the secretory cell nervous system. In fact, from a functional standpoint, the two
H H
H R H R
H H
H
H H H H
H N
Intracrine
H N
R H R H
Axon
Auto-
Endocrine
crine Blood
vessel
Paracrine
R
N
crine
Para N
R H R H H N
N
H N
R R
H R
FIGURE 1–1 Actions of hormones and neurotransmitters. Endocrine and neurotransmitter cells synthesize hormones and release them by
specialized secretory pathways or by diffusion. Hormones can act at the site of production either following release (autocrine) or without
release (intracrine) from the producer cell. They can also act on neighboring target cells, including neurotransmitter-producing cells, without
entering the circulation (paracrine). Finally, they can access target cells through the circulation (endocrine). Neurotransmitters that access the
extracellular compartment, including circulating plasma, can act as paracrine or endocrine regulators of target cell activity (H, hormone;
N, neurotransmitter; R, receptor).
systems are probably related evolutionarily. However, there are neuron. It does this through pulsatile release of secretory granules
some important differences between the two systems. While the into an incredibly small volume (ie, that determined by the vol-
nervous system uses a highly compartmentalized, closed system ume in the synaptic cleft).
of axons and dendrites to connect cells at some distance from one The endocrine system, on the other hand, has a very large
another, the endocrine system relies on circulating plasma to volume of distribution for many of its ligands (eg, circulating
carry newly released hormones to their distant targets. As a result, blood volume). Maintaining ligand concentrations analogous to
the time constants for signal delivery are quite different between those present in the synaptic cleft would require prodigious secre-
the two—virtually instantaneous for the nervous system but tory capacity. The endocrine system circumvents this problem by
delayed, by virtue of circulation times, for the endocrine system. using ligand–receptor interactions with 100-10,000 fold higher
Thus, while neural responses are typically measured in seconds, binding affinity than those used in the nervous system. In effect,
endocrine responses are often measured in minutes to hours— the nervous system is structured to deliver high ligand concentra-
thereby accommodating different needs in the organism. A sec- tions to relatively low-affinity receptors, allowing it to activate and
ond difference relates to the nature of the ligand–receptor inactivate biological effects quickly and in a relatively well-defined
interaction. In the nervous system, the affinity of receptor for topography. Its effects are short lived. In contrast, the endocrine
ligand tends to be relatively low. This allows for rapid dissociation system uses high-affinity receptors to extract and retain ligand
of ligand from receptor and, if that ligand is degraded locally, a from a relatively “dilute” pool in circulating plasma. Its biological
rapid cessation of biological effect. Despite this rapid dissocia- effects are long lasting. It has sacrificed rapid response to accom-
tion, the secretory neuron is able to maintain receptor occupancy modate a wider area of signal distribution and prolongation of the
by keeping concentrations of the ligand high around the target biological effect. Thus, the systems are not only related but
complementary in the respective roles that they play in normal of protein or peptide hormones this usually reflects increased
physiological function. expression of the gene encoding the hormone (ie, increased pro-
duction of the mRNA encoding the hormone) with subsequent
increases in hormone synthesis. In the case of steroid or thyroid
CHEMICAL NATURE OF HORMONES hormones it reflects increased sequestration of precursors for hor-
mone synthesis (eg, cholesterol for steroid hormones or iodide for
Hormones vary widely in terms of their chemical composition. thyroid hormone) as well as increased activity of enzymatic pro-
Specific examples include proteins (eg, adrenocorticotrophin), teins responsible for executing the individual catalytic events
peptides (eg, vasopressin), monoamines (eg, norepinephrine), required for hormone production. The latter may involve a rate-
amino acid derivatives (eg, triiodothyronine), steroids (eg, cortisol), limiting step in the synthetic cascade (eg, 1-alpha hydroxylase
and lipids (eg, prostaglandins). Proteins can be glycosylated (eg, activity in the synthesis of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D).
thyroid-stimulating hormone) and/or dimerized (eg, follicle-stim-
ulating hormone) to generate full biological activity. In general,
protein, peptide, monoamine, and lipophilic hormones tend to Precursor Processing
exert their effects primarily through protein receptors at the cell Processing of hormone precursors contributes to varying degrees
membrane, while thyroid hormone and steroids tend to operate in in controlling circulating hormone levels. Most peptide and pro-
the cell nucleus. However, exceptions to these rules are being rec- tein hormones require some processing to generate the mature
ognized (eg, triiodothyronine activates classic thyroid hormone hormonal product (eg, conversion of proinsulin to insulin) and
receptors in the nuclear compartment and the trace amine receptor impairment in the processing activity can alter the ratio of precur-
[TAR1] on the cell surface) and estradiol appears to activate both sor to product in plasma. In other cases, a critical processing event
nuclear and plasma membrane receptors. It is likely that the bio- is part of the secretory process itself (eg, cleavage of thyroxine
logical “effect” of a given hormone reflects a composite of receptor from thyroglobulin) and impaired processing can result in a dra-
activity located in several different cellular compartments. matic reduction in immunoreactivity as well as bioactivity of the
mature hormone. In addition, protein hormones may require
post-translational modification (eg, glycosylation) or assembly (eg,
ENDOCRINE GLANDS AND TARGET heterodimerization) prior to secretion in order to optimize bio-
ORGANS logical activity.
Whilst the market was going on, Taburet used to prescribe for
many natives who came to consult him. But carelessness and
ignorance work terrible havoc among the negroes everywhere.
There would be plenty for a doctor to do who cared to study
diseases now become rare in civilized countries. From amongst the
patients who came to Taburet, a grand or rather terrible list of
miraculous cures might have been drawn up. These patients
included men and women suffering from tubercular and syphilitic
diseases, which had been allowed to run their dread course
unchecked by any remedies whatever; many too were blind or
afflicted with goitre and elephantiasis, whilst there were numerous
lepers. Few, however, were troubled with nervous complaints. It was
indeed difficult to prescribe for such cases as came before the good
doctor; indeed it would often have been quite impossible for his
instructions to be carried out. Many poor cripples came from a long
distance to consult the white doctor, expecting to be made whole
immediately, when they were really incurable. Where, however,
would have been the good of prescribing cleanliness, when one of
their most used remedies is to smear any wound with mud and cow-
dung mixed together, the eyes of ophthalmic patients even being
treated with the horrible stuff? Where would be the good of ordering
them nourishing food such as gravy beef, when they are too poor to
get it? Good wine? Even if we could have supplied them with it, they
would have flung it away with horror, for they are Mussulmans.
Quinine then? Its bitterness would have made them suspect poison.
They all came expecting miracles, and all that could be done for
them was to paint their sore places with iodine, and to give them
various lotions and antiseptic dressings, or a solution of iodide of
potassium, and so on, from the use of which they would, most of
them, obtain no benefit at all.
Taburet was consulted about all sorts of things. For instance, a
pretty Fulah woman from Saga with a pale complexion and engaging
manners had got into trouble. She had overstepped the bounds of
reserve prescribed in her tribe to young girls, and was soon to
become a mother. Well, she came timidly to the doctor to ask for
medicines for her case, and when it was explained to her that that
case was incurable, for the French law forbids the destruction of life,
she went away, only to return the next day with her mother. The latter
explained that if she and her daughter returned to their village as
things were, they would both be stoned to death, or at least, if their
judges were merciful, be put in irons for the rest of their lives. The
young girl was pretty, many men in her village had asked her in
marriage, but she had refused them all. All her people were now
eager to revenge themselves on her, and to apply in all their terrible
rigour, the “just Mussulman laws.” She had neither father, brother,
nor any one to defend her. Her seducer had deserted her, and it is
not customary amongst the Fulahs to make inquiries as to the father
of illegitimate children.
The people of Say had recommended the mother in mockery to
take her girl to the Christians, she was good for nothing else now,
they said. If we could not cure her, there was nothing left for them to
do but to hide themselves in the fetich-worshipping village of Gurma,
where they would lead a miserable life, unnoticed and unknown.
The two poor women with tears in their eyes knelt to the doctor
imploring his help, and crying Safarikoy! Safarikoy! and I asked
myself, what would be the duty of a doctor in this bigoted land if he
had had the necessary instruments for meeting the unfortunate girl’s
wishes. Perhaps it was as well that in this case nothing could be
done.
All the same this domestic drama was very heart-rending. I tried
for a long time to console our visitors. The old woman stuck to her
request for medicine, and promised to reward us with everything she
could think of likely to please us. She even offered us her daughter,
saying that she might remain with us, and could follow us wherever
we went.
I told Digui to get rid of them as gently as possible, and gave them
a good present to enable them to reach some heathen village where
the people would have pity on them. They departed at last, the
mother’s tears soaking her tattered garments, the daughter following
her, her little feet swollen with walking, and her head drooping in her
despair.
À propos of this episode, Suleyman the interpreter held forth in
the following strain—“From the earliest times prophets, marabouts,
and the negro chiefs who founded the religious dynasty of the
country, have been terribly severe on any lapse from morality
amongst their women, but it is all humbug, for most of the marabouts
are the fathers of illegitimate children.
“Amongst Amadu’s people the man and woman who have sinned
are deprived of all their property, but Abdul Bubakar goes still further,
for he sacks the entire village to which a frail woman belongs, a
capital way of getting slaves and everything else. In other districts
the woman is put in irons, but the man goes free; but if the seducer
comes forward and owns his crime, he can obtain remission of the
punishment by payment of a large sum to the chief of the village;
generally, however, the unfortunate girl dies in her chains.
“Such are the manners and customs of the Mussulmans, and God
alone knows what their women are really like.
“Samory used to kill both the guilty parties, but Tieba, his enemy
and neighbour, professed an amiable kind of philosophy on the
subject of the weaker sex and the ways of women. When Samory
was conquered by Tieba, the chief auxiliaries of the latter were the
nomad Diulas who were strangers in the land. These Diulas had
come to the district by way of Sikasso, where they had met with
women of free and easy manners, and had been driven by the force
of circumstances to remain amongst them, adopting their ways. Now
it generally happens amongst the negroes, that those who have
travelled much and seen something of the world are not only brave
but sensible and free from bigotry.
WOMEN OF SAY.
FORT ARCHINARD.
I cannot too often insist on the fact that it was, thanks to the daily
dose of quinine regularly administered by order to every member of
the expedition, that we owe our safe return in good health, and with
appetites unimpaired.
We owe to it, too, the fact that in spite of many fevers in past
days, we actually had gained, on our return to Paris, not only in
weight, but in our power of enjoying a joke.
Last January, after my return to France, I had been giving an
account at a public meeting of the results of my expedition, and my
companions and I were going down the staircase of the Sorbonne,
attended by a considerable crowd, when two gentlemen, radiant with
health, evidently from the French colonies, and geographers, else
why were they there? exchanged their impressions as they passed
us. “Pooh,” said one of them, shrugging his shoulders, “they have
not even got dirty heads!”
After lunch we all went to take a little siesta, or at least to rest
during the great heat of the day. The siesta, though so much in use
in the tropics, is really a very bad habit, and many ailments of the
stomach are caused by it. It is really better only to indulge in a
noonday nap after exceptional fatigue; but of course it is a very
different matter just to avoid active exercise immediately after a
meal, and to read quietly without going to sleep. To wind up all this
advice to future travellers in the Sudan, let me just add this one more
word, “Do as I say rather than as I did.”
Many of the coolies did not go to sleep in the resting hour, but
chatted together about the news of the day, or gave each other a
little elementary instruction, for negroes, even when grown up, are
very fond of teaching and of being taught. Their ambition, however,
is generally limited to learning to write a letter to their friends or
family. They take great delight in corresponding with the absent, and
I have known young fellows in the Sudan who spend nearly all their
salaries in sending telegraphic despatches to their friends. I knew
others, amongst whom was Baudry’s servant, who gave up most of
their free time at Say to writing letters which never reached their
destination, for a very good reason. They were all much in the style
of the one quoted below—
“Dear Mr. Fili Kanté,—I write to inform you that the Niger
Hydrographical Expedition has arrived at Fort Archinard, and that,
thanks to God, all are well. When you write to me, send me news of
my father and mother, and my friends at Diamu (the writer’s native
village). I shall be very pleased, too, if you will send the twelve
samba (sembé) (coverlets), four horses, ten sheep, etc.
“With my best greetings, dear Mr. Fili Kanté.
“(Signed) Mussa Diakhite
(in the service of Mr. Baudry.)”
Might you not fancy this letter, with all its decorative strokes, to be
one from the soldier Dumanet to his parents? Nothing is wanted to
complete the resemblance, not even the attempt to fleece his
correspondent.
Besides these lovers of correspondence, there were others who
were mad about arithmetic. Samba Demba, Suzanne’s groom,
already often mentioned, wanted to know enough arithmetic to
matriculate. All through the hour of the siesta, and often also when
he was at work, he was muttering the most absurd numbers over to
himself; absurd for him, at least, for the negroes who do not live
where the cowry serves as currency, cannot conceive the idea of any
number beyond a thousand. Samba Demba would read what he
called his “matricula” of nine figures and more, to Father Hacquart,
with the greatest complacency, whilst Ahmady-Mody, who had
patched up the Aube, strove in vain to learn b-a ba, b-e be, or twice
two are four, twice three are six, with his head bent over a big card.
The marabout Tierno Abdulaye actually composed and sung Arabic
verses. In the midst of it all the voice of Dr. Taburet would be heard
from his tent hard by complaining that he could not sleep.
All these good fellows, with their eagerness to learn, had a child-
like side to their characters. There is no doubt that they would very
quickly learn to read, write, and cipher, as the advertisements of
elementary schools express it—read without understanding too
much, write without knowing what, and calculate without ever being
able to apply their arithmetic. Anyhow, however, even this little
knowledge will wean them from the pernicious influence of the
marabouts.
After sunset the heat
became more bearable,
and the time for our
evening bath arrived. At
the northern extremity of
our island were a number
of pools amongst the
rocks, varying in depth
according to the tide. Here
and there were regular
cascades, and we could
stand on the sand bottom
and get a natural shower-
OUR COOLIES AT THEIR TOILETTE. bath. Some of us became
perfectly enamoured of
this style of bathing. Opinions differ in Africa as to the healthiness of
it, however. For my part, I know that bathing in the tepid water,
warmed as it was by the heat of the sun, was very refreshing, and of
course the cleaner we kept ourselves the better the pores of our skin
acted. It may be that stopping long in the water every day was
weakening, and some fevers may have been caused by it when it
happened to be colder than usual. There are two opinions on this as
on every subject, but where is the good of discussing them?—the
best plan is to do what you like yourself.
In the river near Fort Archinard there were lots of common fish,
which used to shoot down the cascades of an evening for the sake
of the greater freshness and coolness of the water below. These fish
would actually strike us now and then on the shoulders, making us
start by the suddenness of the unexpected blows. It was still more
unpleasant to know that other denizens of the river, the terrible
crocodiles, though further off, were still there.
Oh, what numbers of the horrible great grey creatures we used to
see floating down with the stream or lying about the banks! Some of
them had taken up their abode quite near to us, along the side of our
island, just where we used to do our fishing with the gun-cotton, but
their being close to us did not prevent either the coolies, or for the
matter of that the whites, from going into the river.
With sunset came the hour of supper or dinner, and what grand
sky effects we used to see whilst we were at that meal in these
winter quarters of ours! Our walls were flecked with every colour of
the rainbow, whilst in the east, above the sombre wooded banks,
would often rise red masses of curious-looking clouds, precursors of
the approaching tornado. Sometimes the sun had not quite set
before the lightning would begin to flash, and the thunder to roll
incessantly, sounding like the roar of artillery in battle. As we sat at
table we would discuss the situation: what would the tornado do this
time? Would our huts be able to bear up against it? Would much
water come in? “Make haste, Fili, bring us that nougat before it
rains!” said Bluzet. And were the barges securely moored? Had the
sentry got his cloak? and so on.
A WOMAN OF SAY.
Our men were in great despair. The charm which would have
brought luck to our camp was broken; but the parent birds, in spite of
the loss of their little ones, evidently determined to act as our
talisman to the end of our stay, for they continued to fly round and
round our tamarind, and to talk together of an evening, though sadly.
It was not until a few days before we left that they flew away towards
the north. Thanks to them, perhaps, we had a run of good luck to the
last.
The tornado freshened the atmosphere very considerably, and the
sudden change could only be fully realized by consulting the
thermometer. In five minutes the glass would sometimes fall from
forty-five to thirty degrees. A corresponding and sympathetic change
would take place in the state of our nerves; we could sleep a little if
only the mosquitoes would let us, but, alas! their droning never
ceased. Oh, that horrible music, which went on for ever without
mercy, causing us more anguish even than the bites, and against
which no curtain could protect.
The frogs, too, added to the droning of the mosquitoes what we
may call their peculiar Plain Songs or Gregorian chants. They were
very tame, showing no fear of us, but took up their abode here,
there, and everywhere: out in the open air, or in the huts, in our
books, under our tins, and in our water-vessels, and their ceaseless
singing in full solemn tones, echoed that of the distant choirs of their
wilder brethren chattering together amongst the grass by the river-
side. Although not composed on the spot, I cannot refrain from
quoting the following sonnet, produced by a member of our
expedition, and which forms a kind of sequel to the others I have
transcribed above—
LOVE-SONG.
In every country in the world fine weather comes after rain, and
the tornado was succeeded on the Niger by a star-light night of a
clearness and limpidity such as is never seen anywhere out of the
tropics. The soft murmur of the Niger was borne to us upon the
gentle night breeze, reminding us of the Fulah proverb—
“Ulululu ko tiaygueul, so mayo héwi, déguiet,” which may be
translated—
“Ulululu cries the brook, the big river is silent.”
A true description indeed of what really often seemed to happen
during our long imprisonment on our island, for we could hear the
gurgling of the rapid further down-stream, but the voice of the river
was hushed.
Our nights passed quietly enough, watch being always kept by
one white man, one black subordinate officer, and two coolies. From
Timbuktu to Lokodja, that is to say, from January 21 to October 21,
we five Europeans had taken the night-watch in turn. It must be
admitted that at Fort Archinard it was sometimes rather difficult to
remain awake, and to keep ourselves from yielding to our exhausting
fatigue. We had to resort to various manœuvres, such as pinching
ourselves, bathing our feet, wrists, or head, and walking rapidly up
and down. Sometimes, as one or another of us sat in Father
Hacquart’s folding-chair, looking out upon the moon-lit scene, there
was something very charming about the silence and repose, and as
we have already given several quotations of poetical effusions, I
think I must add just one more on the night-watch, also composed by
one of our party.
NIGHT-WATCH.
Our one safe road, the river, was blocked above and below the
camp, for we had a rapid up-stream and a rapid down-stream, so
that even quite small canoes could not pass.
There has been much talk of winter in the Arctic regions, and of
course such a winter is always very severe, but the one we passed
at Say was simply miserable. I really do think that the fact of all five
of us Europeans having survived it, is a proof that we were endowed
with a great amount of energy and vitality.
The temperature had much to do with our sufferings. It increased
steadily until June, and then remained pretty stationary. The