92 ALBEKT C. CRAWFORD 



tained 0.24 mg., while the suprarenal, which weighed 2.7 gm., contained 

 0.01 mg. This absence of epinephrin in human fetal glands has been 

 confirmed (Lewis) although Svehla found it in the suprarenals of the fetal 

 calf, and Fenger using colorimetric methods claims that the fetal calf con- 

 tains as much as the adult. Barger suggests this may be explained by the 

 presence of a physiologically inert precursor of adrenalin which gives its 

 color reactions. 



Synonyms of Adrenalin 



As adrenalin became a commercial success various firms began to 

 market its solution, necessarily under other names. This led to litiga- 

 tion which was finally decided in favor of Takamine (Amer. J. Pharm.). 

 The final decision of the court rested on the product, not on the process 

 (Oil, Paint and Drug Reporter). And in viewing this decision it is well 

 to consider the early work of Holm. 



Unquestionably the discoverer of a pure compound has a right to name 

 his product, but it is shown by Abel's work that Takamine's adrenalin is 

 not chemically pure and the results of the analysis which Takamine made 

 did not coincide with those obtained from the pure active compound, so 

 that on Takamine's basis alone there would be no necessary reason to re- 

 tain the name. However, Aldrich, who first obtained the base pure and 

 made the correct analysis, adopted this name, although Abel, previous 

 to both, had obtained very active salts and whose formula, after the ben- 

 zoyl group, had been removed, was closer to that of Aldrich than was the 

 formula of Takamine, had used the name Epinephrin. 



As the names for adrenalin, or its solutions, were multiplying rapidly 

 and it was becoming a burden to remember these various names, hemisin, 

 adnephrin, adrin, suprarenin, suprarenalin, caprenalin, paranephrin, etc., 

 the Council of Pharmacy and Chemistry of the American Medical As- 

 sociation adopted the name Epinephrin for this base, partly to avoid 

 further confusion, partly to give Professor Abel his just recognition, 

 partly because this name had not been copyrighted, and partly because 

 this was the first name used for the pressor substance in this country, 

 while the term Adrenalin is a proprietary name (J. Am. M. Ass.> Braith- 

 waite, Maben). The Council of Pharmacy and Chemistry of the Ameri- 

 can Medical Association adopted the name Epinephrin as a generic word. 



Several large drug firms are spending much money in research work 

 and there is some question as to how much right we have to change the 

 names of compounds discovered by them and thus deprive them of some 

 of their legitimate profits and whether such a change would not discourage 

 commercial research, but in the case of epinephrin this does not seem to 

 hold because of the work of Abel. 



At first the English followed our change in name, but in spite of the 



