36 THE PHYSIOLOGY OF THE ADRENALS. 



does not produce a characteristic lesion in them, the phe- 

 nomena witnessed, histological and symptomatic, should rather 

 be considered as expressions of excessive stimulation or ex- 

 haustion of these organs. The various toxins differ in potency 

 precisely as do other poisons; why their mode of action should 

 differ would be difficult to show. On the other hand, it may 

 easily be demonstrated that all poisons affect the adrenals in 

 a similar way, and in proportion to their virulence and dose. 

 In curare poisoning, for example, the symptoms produced so 

 exactly portray those that follow extirpation of both organs in 

 mammals that Abelous and Langlois 75 were led to conclude 

 that there were in the blood various substances possibly orig- 

 inating in the chemical changes of muscular contraction, which 

 produced curare-like symptoms, and which were destroyed or 

 neutralized by the internal secretion of the adrenals. Tillie, 76 

 after a series of experiments (which did not refer to the 

 adrenals), thus describes the physiological effects of curare: 

 "With larger doses there is dilation of the abdominal vessels, 11 

 and, hence, accumulation of blood, little or nothing of this 

 fluid entering the empty ventricle notwithstanding that the 

 heart may continue to beat. Curarine causes an almost imme- 

 diate fall of blood-pressure in mammals; it occurs even after 

 section of the vagi, after a paralyzing dose of atropine, after 

 division of all the cardiac nerves, after section of the spinal 

 cord, and after paralysis of the central reflexes by urethane. 

 The cause, therefore, of the fall of pressure must be due to a 

 direct action upon the peripheral nerves or upon the muscles 

 of the blood-vessel walls." Probably stronger evidence to show 

 the direct paralyzing action of curare upon the adrenals could 

 not be found. 



The common action of various toxins may be as clearly 

 demonstrated. Thus, Langlois and Charrin 78 invariably noted 

 hypertrophy of the suprarenal tissues after the prolonged use 

 of diphtheric toxins in small quantities, in guinea-pigs. In one 

 of the animals the organs had increased to over four times 



76 Abelous and Langlois: Archives de Physiologic norm, et path., vol. xili, p. 

 267. 



79 Tillie: Medical Chronicle, March, 1891. 



77 The italics are our own. 



78 Langlois and Charrin: La M6decine Moderne, Feb. 6, 1896. 



