292 PROTEIN POISONS 



given more slowly, as in two doses of 0.25 mg., after the 

 second of which death ensued rapidly, the final condition 

 of pulmonary distention was extreme. Death was clearly 

 due to asphyxia, evidently resulting from progressive 

 obstruction to the respiration, sufficient in its early stages 

 to prevent the exit of air sucked into the lungs by the 

 violent inspiratory spasms, and later becoming complete. 

 The larger the initial dose, and, therefore, the earlier the 

 obstruction became complete, the less pronounced the 

 distention of the lungs. Such an effect could only be due 

 to constriction of the bronchioles by spasm of their muscular 

 coats, though the effect w^ould be aided by increased bron- 

 chial secretion. Preliminary injection of atropine, though 

 it did not abolish the action, had decided protective value. 

 After 5 mg. of atropine a dose of 1 mg. of /3-i intravenously 

 had the normal effect, but another guinea-pig, which received 

 a preliminary injection of 5 mg. of atropine, recovered from 

 subsequent intravenous injections of 0.5 mg., 0.25 mg., and 

 again 0.5 mg. of /3-i given in fairly rapid succession; whereas 

 one dose of 0.5 mg. was, in our experience, invariably 

 fatal when given intravenously to a guinea-pig untreated 

 with atropine. Whether atropine actually weakens the 

 bronchial spasm, or merely modifies the effect by preventing 

 secretion, must remain uncertain. We were unable to 

 remove the obstruction when once developed by a sub- 

 sequent injection of atropine." 



In dogs and cats /3-i causes a marked fall in blood-pressure, 

 and in this respect also agrees with the anaphylactic poison. 

 On the smooth muscle, notably on that of the virgin uterus, 

 it has a markedly stimulating effect. It does not, according 

 to the findings of the English investigators, affect the 

 coagulability of the blood. 



In a later paper Barger and Dale 1 make a further com- 

 parison between the physiological action of 0-i and peptone 

 poisoning, especially with the action of the "vasodilatin" 

 of Popielski, and they state their conclusions as follows: 



1 Journal of Physiology, 1911, Ixi, 499. 



