PHARMACOLOGY OF HYPOPHYSEAL EXTRACTS 751 



evidence, based as it is largely upon a similarity of colorimetric reaction 

 of extracts of the two glands is not convincing as to their identity, a 

 fact recognized by the authors themselves. It was shown by Abel and 

 Pincoffs (1917) that the proteoses and albumoses usually present in 

 posterior lobe extracts cannot be considered as the immediate source of 

 the active principles, since after they have been removed the residual fil- 

 trate still exerts its characteristic pressor and oxytocic effects. 



The attempts at isolating in a pure, identifiable condition the active 

 principles of the posterior lobe have so far been unsuccessful. None of 

 the workers have been able to report the chemical constitution and struc- 

 ture of the various compounds they have obtained. Nevertheless, the 

 studies made have supported the idea that in these extracts there are 

 at least three separate active principles, a pressor, a depressor and a 

 uterine-contracting or oxytocic substance as suggested by Herring (1914), 

 Crawford and Ostenberg(a) (&) (1914) and others. Aldrich(a.) (1908) 

 separated from the posterior lobe a basic material in the form of a picrate 

 and a sulphate which had a pressor effect on the blood-pressure. In 1913 

 and 1914 Fiihner published several reports of his extensive studies on the 

 isolation of the active principles of the posterior lobe. He was able to ob- 

 tain a large series of crystalline compounds by first precipitating the 

 protein-free extracts of the material with phosphotungstic acid and then 

 treating the mixture thus obtained so as to obtain the sulphate salts. This 

 mixture he named Hypophysin and considered that it contained at least 

 four active principles and possibly eight, the whole containing all the 

 physiological and pharmacological properties of the extracts themselves. 

 Badouin (1913), Crawford and Ostenberg (1913-14), Claude and Porak 

 (&) (1914) and Houssay(a) (1915-16) attempted the isolation and puri- 

 fication of the active principles by means of precipitation with lead sub- 

 acetate but were unable to get satisfactory yields of identifiable com- 

 pounds. Heidelberg and Pittenger (1914) reported a preliminary study 

 of efforts to obtain the active principles as metallic salts, such as aluminum, 

 but nothing further has definitely been obtained. Bouin and Ancel (1914) 

 prepared a crystalline sulphate that had all the properties of the original 

 extract and later Ancel and Bouin (1914) obtained what they considered 

 to be the pure base. Their method consisted in fixing the posterior lobes in 

 a mixture of equal parts of alcohol and ether for eight to ten days and then 

 macerating the tissue in distilled water. The liquid was then pressed from 

 the mass, filtered and clarified with ammoniacal lead acetate. The fil- 

 trate was a clear liquid. It was treated with lead hydroxid, filtered, and 

 the process twice repeated. The bases were then precipitated by silver 

 nitrate. The precipitate was treated with dilute ammonia water, filtered, 

 and the filtrate, rapidly evaporated. This process yielded a crystalline 

 compound which they claimed was the silver salt of the base. When this 

 was decomposed by hydrogen sulphid the base was obtained as such in 



