The Iodine Factor in Health and EvolutionFootnote^*

* I wish to express my gratitude to Jeffrey R. Dobson, who first suggested iodine as a factor that distinguishes coastal populations from inland ones, contributed to the discussion and research on Neandertals and cretinism, and visited the Institute of Pathology in Zurich to acquire records in the Galler Collection. This article has benefited from reviews and comments by him and by William Bass, Lewis Binford, Karl Butzer, Boyd Eaton, Stephen Jay Gould, Donald Jones, Andrew Kramer, and John Stanbury. Gretchen Worden, of the Mutter Museum in Philadelphia, and Marian Loercher, of the Institute of Pathology, Museum of Natural History in Basel, graciously assisted with the Galler and Hyrtl Collections. I thank Phillip Coleman, Daniel Pack, Margaret Setser, and Julia Spradling for their research and cartographic assistance, the Office of Laboratory Directed Research, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, for exploratory funding, and Richard C. Durfee of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory for his help and support.

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