SUBGERY 279 



Nothnagel 474 attempted to produce Addison's disease in 

 animals by crushing the adrenals. He described the develop- 

 ment of pigmented spots on the mucous membranes of rabbits 

 in which this operation was performed. Abelous and Langlois 5 

 ligatured the adrenal pedicle and crushed or cauterized the 

 glands in an attempt to induce a chronic insufficiency. 

 Marine 434 and his coworkers froze the surface of the glands by a 

 spray of ethyl chloride in order to induce partial cortical in- 

 sufficiency. These methods have been only partially suc- 

 cessful. It is difficult to adjust the degree of injury so that the 

 animal will not die of an acute insufficiency or else survive 

 without any demonstrable deficiency. 661 



With a preparation of the cortical hormone available, the 

 most satisfactory method of producing a partial insufficiency 

 would seem to be the following : After complete adrenalectomy 

 the animal is maintained on an adequate dose of the hormone 

 until the operative wounds have thoroughly healed. The 

 dose of hormone is now gradually reduced until a definite degree 

 of insufficiency is clinically evidenced by a loss or failure to 

 gain weight, a reduced body temperature, and general in- 

 activity. By this method the author has succeeded in keeping 

 animals (rats, cats, and dogs) in a state of chronic insufficiency 

 for several months, during which time they developed the 

 changes described in Chapter XIV. 



Many methods have been devised for destroying the med- 

 ullary tissue without fatal injury to the cortex in order to 

 study the effects of exclusion of epinephrine from the circula- 

 tion. The adrenal may be scooped out, as in the experiments 

 of Houssay and Lewis, 311 or destroyed by inserting glass 

 capillaries containing radium or its emanations. 41 • 373 The 

 possibility of destroying the medullary cells by a specific 

 cytotoxic serum, as is reputed to have been done, 389 is very 

 doubtful. Extirpation of one adrenal and denervation of the 

 other has been the method most commonly used for excluding 

 the medullary function, but it has not been proven and it is 



