i6o Proccedings Columbia Biochemical Association [Sept 



of the research laboratory of Burroughs, Welcome & Co., was in- 

 soliible in cold Chloroform, benzene, tolnene, amyl alcohol, but 

 slightly soluble in xylol, easily soluble in methyl alcohol, and soluble 

 in cold carbon disulfide and hot amyl alcohol. 



Aqneous Solutions were tested with several reagents, to dis- 

 cover if possible some means of detecting the presence of /?-imida- 

 zolylethylamin in the tissties or blood, as follows: Bromine water, 

 no precipitate, no coloration; copper sulfate, negative; potassium 

 ferrocyanid, negative; Paidy's reagent, cherry red coloration; pic- 

 ric acid, yellow precipitate insoluble in water, alcohol, ether, xylol 

 and toluene, but which gave the positive Pauly reaction; phospho- 

 tungstic acid, gray-blue precipitate, soluble in barium chloride Solu- 

 tion, and in barium hydroxid Solution, which gave a positive Pauly 

 reaction; sodiiim nitrite, negative; magnesium sulfate, negative; 

 niercuric chlorid, negative ; gold chlorid, negative. 



Efforts to detect, by microchemical means, the presence of ß-\m\- 

 dazolylethylamin in the bronchioles of guinea pigs dying from ana- 

 phylactic shock, were without results. 



IL Tests of the physiological action of /J-imidazolylethylamin 

 were conducted upon rabbits, guinea pigs and dogs by intravenous, 

 subcutaneous and intraperitoneal injections. Intravenous injections 

 of 0.5 mg. in guinea pigs caused immediate respiratory embarräss- 

 ment, lowered blood pressure and diminished body heat, the animal 

 dying in six minutes from suffocation due to complete occlusion of 

 the bronchioles ; it being impossible to either f orce air into the lungs 

 or to withdraw air, after the contraction had become complete. 

 The Symptoms were typical of anaphylactic shock, and the post- 

 mortem examination revealed the presence of enormous emphysema, 

 the heart continuing to beat long after respiration had ceased. In 

 dogs and rabbits there was also a lowering of the blood pressure 

 and some respiratory embarrassment, but the occlusion of the bron- 

 chioles was not as complete as in guinea pigs. 



Stibctttaneons and intraperitoneal injections were much less 

 toxic and, in some instances, were entirely negative, suggesting that 

 the tissues are able to utilize /?-imidazolylethylamin. 



The writer has seen many cases of asthma relieved entirely 

 along dietetic lines by a " low protein " diet, and empirically has 



