INTERNAL SECRETION AND DISORDERS OF LIVER 687 



residue, or the non-coagulable portion of an aqueous extract of liver, thy- 

 mus, pancreas, and thyroid contains an active substance which depresses 

 the circulation when administered intravenously. When injected sub- 

 cutaneously, even in enormous doses, the extracts show no vasodilating 

 effect. The liver extract, when injected subcutaneously, stimulates the 

 gastric secretion and motility, and also promotes a vigorous now of pan- 

 creatic juice. They conclude that the residue or non-coagulable portion of 

 an aqueous extract of the various organs studied, contains practically all 

 the material which can directly and immediately affect, through the circu- 

 lation, the functional activity of any other organ. Stern and Rothlin 



(1919) state that the liver contains two different water soluble substances, 

 one of which produces hypertonicity and the other hypotonicity of smooth 

 muscle tissue. 



The experiments of Walton (1914) indicate that saline liver extract 

 inhibits the growth of adult mammalian cells in vitro. 



Voegtlin and Myers (1919) have shown that an alcoholic extract of 

 the mucosa of the duodenum, liver, heart muscle, and milk, after being 

 submitted to a modified Funk procedure for the purification of vitamin, 

 and introduced intravenously into dogs, contains a substance which de- 

 presses the circulation and stimulates pancreatic secretion and temporarily 

 increases the flow of bile. Further experiments by Myers and Voegtlin 



(1920) indicate that the substance directly responsible for the stimulating 

 action on the pancreatic secretion and bile flow, and the fall in blood pres- 

 sure, may possibly be histamin, or a histamin-like substance. Histamin, 

 according to Abel and Kubota (1919), is a widely distributed constituent 

 of all animal tissues and organ extracts. 



Conclusions 



The Place of the Liver in the Endocrin Congeries. From the forego- 

 ing data it appears that the liver plays an important role in the production 

 of numerous internal secretions, in the broad sense of the term. That it 

 may also contribute one or more true hormones is believed by some and this 

 possibility cannot be denied. Convincing evidence, however, that such is 

 the case remains yet to be offered. 



