204 THE INTERNAL SECRETIONS—1920 
low blood pressure, as we so often find it, is most prob- 
ably due to an insufficency of the adrenal medulla. And 
it is quite possible that the persistent weariness, and 
constant fatigue, which we have termed laziness, may 
have a similar origin. I have known many such cases 
to take on renewed vigor and energy following adrenal 
therapy. Adrenal medication should always include 
the whole gland, and I believe that it is more effective 
when combined with the sex gland, for there is an 
intimate relationship of function between the testicles 
and the adrenals. The intermingling of the two types 
of tissues, and the similarity in action of the two active 
principles,’ both of which resist boiling, is also well 
known. We may administer testicular extract to the 
female, because spermin is found in the blood in only 
slightly reduced quantities as compared with that pres- 
ent in the male.‘ 
The antitoxic action of the adrenals has been posi- 
tively established. A guinea pig may be given the 1/6 
gr. strychnia, and if this is followed immediately by an 
injection of 30 minims of adrenalin, no harm will re- 
sult. The same animal will die of convulsions if the ex- 
periment be repeated and the adrenalin omitted. This 
may account for the fact that chickens and quail are 
immune to strychnia, while crows are not. By the in- 
travenous injection of adrenalin and artificial respira- 
tion, Crile has resuscitated animals 15 minutes after 
death; and he kept a dog “alive” for ten hours after its 
head was cut off, by means of adrenalin in salt solu- 
tion.® 
One can measure with reasonable accuracy the adre- 
nal efficiency of a patient by his susceptibility to atro- 
pine and pilocarpin, for the individual who reacts 
strongly to these drugs is comparatively insensitive to 
adrenalin, and conversely. Individuals with large ton- 
sils and much adenoid tissue in the pharynx, perhaps 
