84 GLANDS IN HEALTH AND DISEASE 



with the copious loss of blood that accompanies 

 them, would be benefited by adrenaline treatment. 

 This is in fact true of many such cases. Injection 

 of the hormone constricts the blood vessels, and, as 

 Professor Cannon, of Harvard, has shown, actu- 

 ally hastens the formation of a blood clot, which 

 in turn acts as a seal to any further escape of blood. 



The extensive use of adrenaline in conjunction 

 with a local anesthetic dates from 1903, when 

 Braun, a German surgeon, found that a subcutane- 

 ous injection of the hormone produces a bloodless 

 or bleached area of great importance to the sur- 

 geon in giving him a "clear field of operation" 

 even better than the method of bandaging or freez- 

 ing. Then, as a further incentive to its use, it was 

 shown how, applied in conjunction with cocaine or 

 novocaine, the effects of the anesthetic are in- 

 creased and last longer; neither are there such un- 

 pleasant after-effects. Since then adrenaline in 

 conjunction with anesthetics has been used more 

 and more. 



One may cite its invariable use in ophthalmolog- 

 ical surgery. In eye operations and examinations 

 the application of adrenaline has opened up many 

 new possibilities. 



Since we are on the subject of the eye, it may be 

 of interest to record that in a state of mental dis- 

 order which goes under the name of "dementia 

 precox," it has, at times, been found possible to 



