THE SUPRARENAL SYSTEM 257 



lation through the lungs of saline solution containing suprarenal 

 extract, produced only a slight lowering of the activity of the 

 suprarenal extract. 



Battelli found that the artificial circulation of blood containing 

 adrenalin through the liver destroyed the activity of that substance, 

 the alkali and the influence of oxygen converting it, as in vitro, 

 into oxyadrenalin. Livon found that, when added to the pounded 

 liver and striated muscles of guinea-pigs, adrenalin became 

 rapidly reduced in quantity. 



According to Embden and v. Fiirth, however, the addition of 

 pounded liver, lung or muscle to adrenalin solution and the artifi- 

 cial circulation of blood containing adrenalin through the liver 

 or lungs, is followed by only slight reduction, if any, in the 

 amount of the adrenalin. They suggest that this persistence of 

 adrenalin has a connection with the formation of acids in the 

 organs. They do not think that the transience of the effect upon 

 the vessels is due to a rapid oxidation of the adrenalin, but explain 

 this phenomenon by the fact that the contraction of the vessel 

 muscles ceases as soon as, owing to diffusion or dilution with 

 blood or tissue lymph, the concentration of die suprarenin falls 

 below a certain point. 



According to Elliott, however, the excessive quantities of 

 adrenalin employed in these experiments render them unreliable 

 as evidence regarding the disappearance of adrenalin from the 

 tissues. He himself found that artificial circulation through the 

 lungs did not reduce the adrenalin contents to any appreciable 

 extent, but that artificial circulation through the intestine was 

 followed by a marked diminution in the amount of the substance. 



From the results of certain experiments, Langlois concluded 

 that the liver played an important part in the destruction of 

 adrenalin. These experiments showed that the amount of supra- 

 renal extract which, when injected into the jugular vein, produced 

 marked hypertension, produced no effect whatever when injected 

 into a mesenteric vein. 



Carnot and Josserand found, how r ever, that the pharmaco- 

 dynamic effect upon blood-pressure of a given adrenalin solution, 

 was very much reduced where such a solution was injected into 

 the carotid or femoral artery and allowed to flow with the stream 

 in a peripheral direction, the adrenalin thus traversing the vessels 

 supplied by these arteries before entering the general circulation. 

 Passage through the liver also affected the action of adrenalin, 

 but to a less degree. The loss w r as greatest after circulation 

 through the intestine, the injection into a mesenteric artery of 

 .064 mg. adrenalin to every kilo of body w r eight producing no 

 effect upon blood-pressure. 



The absence of hypertensive effect on the part of adrenalin 

 in localities where it normally produces intense vaso- 

 constriction, may further be explained by the fact that the 



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