214 



K. G. HOSKINS 



creased doses. Three of the dogs showed dilatation with some dosage 

 of epinephrin. Two of the three showed as a first effect dilatation with 

 small doses and the third showed a secondary dilatation following the 

 constrictor effect. 



The available evidence as a whole indicates that epinephrin produces 

 as its only significant effect a contraction of the spleen which plays some 



part in the general shift of 

 the blood from the splanchnic 

 to the outlying circulation. 

 This contraction may or may 

 not be associated with dilata- 

 tion of minor degree. 



It is interesting to note 

 that the vasoconstrictor effect 

 of epinephrin in the spleen 

 lends aid in two diagnostic 



problems. A tumor in the 

 Fig. 8. Graph showing contraction of the 

 spleen under the influence of epinephrin, de- 

 pressor infusion. Dose, 2.8 c.c. 1:200,000 solution, 

 by vein during a period of 65 

 Time, 5 seconds. 



administered by vein 



seconds. Dog weighed 15 kilos. 



(After Hoskins and Gunning, Am. J. Physiol.) 



splenic region can thus be dif- 

 ferentiated from the spleen 

 itself. A preliminary injec- 

 tion of epinephrin is said also 

 to be useful in driving blood 



infested with malarial organisms from the spleen into the general circula- 

 tion, thus facilitating their detection. 



Effects on the Circulation of the Kidney, The effects of epinephrin 

 on vascular conditions in the kidney were first studied by Oliver and 

 Schafer, who noted a marked diminution in kidney volume. 



Bardier and Frenkel (1899) investigated the relation of suprarenal 

 extracts to diuresis, and included some studies of vasomotor effects. Their 

 experiments were made on anesthetized dogs, apparently under the influ- 

 ence of curare. The extracts were made from either desiccated suprarenal 

 glands or from fresh gland material macerated for twenty-four hours at 

 body temperature. Judging from the reported effects on arterial pressure, 

 relatively large doses were employed. The extracts were administered 

 intravenously. The authors describe as typical effects contraction of the 

 kidneys and depression of urine flow, followed by dilatation of the organ 

 and diuresis. In certain exceptional cases, however, the injections were 

 followed at once by dilatation and polyuria. Whether the presence of pro- 

 tein decomposition products, which may well have been present in their 

 extracts, played any part in the results is not determinable from the data 

 reported. 



In the same year Gottlieb included the kidneys in a series of ex- 

 periments on the effects of suprarenal extracts on the heart and blood 

 vessels. His observations were made on isolated kidneys of hogs and 



