116 FEANK A. HAKTMAN 



muscular Weakness because it still appeared restless and irritable. The 

 hair was very scraggy and unkempt. The temperature (rectal) was per- 

 haps a little high (3^.1 C.) while the heart rate was normal (249 beats 

 pier minute). 



A part of the weight lost was regained during the next month. Some of 

 the strength also returned but the animal still walked with a stiff-legged 

 gait. The fur however remained in a poor condition, the longer hair 

 such as the vibrissa? being broken and scraggy. Then again the cat com- 

 menced to get worse, until it was reduced to 1.75 kgm. in weight at death. 

 The day before death it appeared very much as it had for weeks. Post- 

 mortem examination showed everything well healed. Both lipoids and 

 epinephrin were present in the suprarenal. 



More recently we have tied both lumbar and Jumbo-adrenal veins on 

 both sides in two kittens (unpublished reports of Hartman and Eisenberg- 

 er). After transient symptoms of suprarenal insufficiency they began 

 to gain in weight and appeared perfectly normal. Eighty-seven days later 

 the right suprarenal was removed in one kitten. The gland appeared to 

 be almost normal, the circulation apparently having been reestablished. No 

 marked symptoms developed until fourteen days after the second oper- 

 ationwhen two convulsions occurred about three hours apart. Accompany- 

 ing these were marked salivation and dilatation of the pupil. Eor three 

 to four minutes after the seizure had passed the animal remained pros- 

 trated. Recovery would be quite complete for a few hours before the next 

 seizure. The animal died during the night in a convulsion, as was judged 

 from the*position in which it was found. The left suprarenal appeared 

 to be completely atrophied. 



We have cited this to show how variable may be the extent of circu- 

 latory interference from tying the veins. The tiny efferent vessels may 

 function sufficiently to prevent loss of active tissue below the danger 

 point or again the circulation may be so completely checked that the 

 gland dies. Moreover any intermediate stage between these two condi- 

 tions is possible. 



We cannot expect to find a complete analogy between the symptoms 

 of Addison's disease and acute suprarenal insufficiency of experimental 

 origin. In the latter we commonly find the following which are analogous : 

 failure of appetite, muscular asthenia, emaciation and loss of weight if 

 the survival is long, low blood pressure and weak heart in the last stage ; 

 occasionally there are evidences of gastric disturbance (ulcers and diar- 

 rhea). But so far pigmentation has never been demonstrated experi- 

 mentally. 



We know that Addison's disease is due to deficiency in the suprarenal 

 function, but we have so far been unable to imitate this experimentally 

 because of the great difficulty in producing a chronic condition. 



