J. F. Gudernatsch tested the effects of feeding mammalian organs to tadpoles. His 1912 report compared diets containing thyroid, liver, thymus and other tissues. Thyroid feeding caused rapid differentiation toward a frog-like form, including early hindlimb development, rather than simply making larger tadpoles.[ref]
The experiment helped separate bodily growth from developmental transformation and implicated a substance in the thyroid in metamorphosis. It used crude tissue as food, so it demonstrated biological activity without isolating a pure thyroid hormone or identifying its molecular structure.
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