40 Itagaki 



who was able to demonstrate the action of drugs on an excised uterus 

 (guinea-pig) which had been kept as long as seven days in an ice-chest (11). 



Fig. 1. — A typical tracing of the movements of a piece of cornu of surviving rat-uterus, immersed 

 in oxygenated Locke's solution at a temperature of 37° C. The movements are amplified 

 about four times. Time in minutes. The ascending part of each curve indicates contraction. 



Kurdinowsky (12) also found that the uterus of the rabbit kept for from 

 twenty-four to forty-eight hours in the cold still showed spontaneous 

 movements. 



Extracts of the Posterior Part of the Pituitary Body. 



A large number of observers have corroborated the original observation 

 of Dale that intravenous injection of extract of the posterior lobe of the 

 pituitary body causes marked uterine contraction ; a similar result being 

 obtained with a portion of the uterus immersed in the extract. Most of 

 these experiments have been made in the cat, rabbit, and guinea-pig ; but 

 Dale, Guggenheim, Herring, and Gunn have seen the same thing in 

 the rat. 



These observations I can entirely corroborate. I have employed 

 extracts of the dried posterior lobe of from O'l to 1 per cent, strength, 

 and extract of fresh ox pituitary of 3 per cent, strength. The extracts 

 were made by boiling with Locke solution and afterwards filtering. In 

 most cases not only is the tone immediately increased when the portion of 

 uterine cornu is immersed in the extract, but the muscular tissue usuallj'' 



