THE SUPRARENAL SYSTEM 179 



or with primary aliphatic amine, amino, methylamino-, and 

 ethylaminopyrocatechin are obtained according to the following 

 formula : 



C 6 H 3 (O.H) a .CO.CH a |Cl + H| .NH 2 = C 6 H 3 (OH) 2 .CO. CH 2 NH 3 



Aminoacetopyrocatechin 



TH .NH.CH, = C 6 .H 3 .(OH) 2 .CO. CH 2 NH.CH 3 



Methylaminoacetopyrocatechin 



TH[ .NH.C 2 H 5 = C 6 H 3 (OH) 2 .CO. " CH 2 .NH.C 2 H, 



Ethylaminoacetopyrocatechin 



According to Lowi and Meyer, the manner in which these 

 bodies act is exactly similar to that of adrenalin, but the strength 

 of their action is very much less. By reducing these ketone bases, 

 Stolz obtained, by the addition of two hydrogen atoms, the 

 complementary secondary alcohols, namely, amino-ethanol-, 

 methylamino-ethanol-, and ethylamino-ethanol-pyrocatechin. In 

 their action these alcohol bases are not only qualitatively identical 

 with adrenalin, they also approach it quantitatively. Methylamino- 

 ethanolpyrocatechin, or orthodioxyphenylethanolmethylamin, is 

 chemically identical with adrenalin obtained from the suprarenal.* 

 This synthetic adrenalin differs only from natural adrenalin 

 in that it is optically inactive, while the natural substance diverts 

 the polarized ray of direction towards the left. This synthetic 

 racemic suprarenin is composed of equal parts of d- and 1-supra- 

 renin ; it was split up into its component parts by Flacher. 



Synthetic 1-suprarenin is, both physically and chemically, 

 absolutely identical with the natural adrenalin obtained from 

 suprarenal. The experiments of Cushney, Abderhalden and his 

 co-workers show that the physiological action of the synthetic 

 substance is both quantitatively and qualitatively the same as 

 that of natural adrenalin. 



The physiological action of d-suprarenin is in every respect 

 similar to that of the natural substance, but is very much less 

 intense ; while the racemic body, in accordance with its composi- 

 tion out of d- and 1-suprarenin, occupies a middle position. 



The question which now arises is, of which substances is the 

 organic adrenalin composed? The theory that adrenalin is 

 formed from the waste products of muscle-metabolism (Boruttau, 

 Battelli) is unsupported by any known fact. The experiments of 

 Abelous, Soulie, and Toujans, which appear to confirm this 

 assumption, and which also point to the cortex as the site of 

 origin, will be discussed later. 



The information which we possess in regard to the chemical 



* The Hochster Farbwerke have recently put upon the market a i : 1005 

 solution of this combination, to which they give the name of " Supra- 

 renium hydrochloricum syntheticum." At present they supply the 1-supra- 

 renin only under this name. 



