ANAPHYLAXIS 



pass urine and feces. They then grow rapidly weak, fall to the 

 ground, and continue to twitch and vomit and the respiration be- 

 comes labored and irregular. There is general weakness of the mus- 

 cles, but no paralysis. The marked, constant, and characteristic 

 feature of the condition in these animals is the fall of blood pressure. 

 There is also a lessened coagulability of the blood, much more 

 strongly developed than in guinea pigs and rabbits. 



According to Biedl and Kraus this may amount to almost a pre- 

 vention of the coagulation in anaphylactic dogs. 



As in other animals the blood picture is changed in that there is 

 a falling off of the total number of leukocytes with a relative diminu- 

 tion of polynuclear cells. 



Quantitative measurements by Calvary, 29 moreover, have shown 

 that anaphylaxis in dogs is accompanied by a marked increase of the 

 lymph flow ( 7 times the amount observed in normal dogs in the same 

 time) and, by controlling the blood pressure with barium chlorid, 

 that this lymphagogue action is not directly dependent upon the low 

 pressure. This observation is of especial interest in connection with 

 the similarity of anaphylaxis to peptone poisoning in which Heiden- 

 hcim 30 noticed a similar increase of the lymph. 



Pearce and Eisenbrey found, at autopsy of dogs dead of anaphy- 

 lactic shock, subserous petechial hemorrhages in the rectum and gall 

 bladder, hemorrhagic spots on the gastric and duodenal mucosa, and 

 in the colon. According to these workers, in agreement with Biedl 

 and Kraus, the fall of blood pressure is not due to central causes but 

 depends upon influences exerted upon the peripheral vasomotor sys- 

 tem. Biedl and Kraus believe that this action is exerted upon the 

 muscle cells themselves rather than on the nerve endings. They 

 admit the inconclusiveness of their experimental data, but take the 

 above standpoint because of the fact that adrenalin, which acts by 

 stimulation of the vasomotor nerve endings particularly, does not 

 raise the low pressure in dogs during anaphylaxis while barium 

 chlorid, which acts upon the smooth muscle fibers themselves, strongly 

 raises the blood pressure in such animals. Pearce and Eisenbrey are 

 inclined to believe that the action is chiefly upon the nerve endings, 

 though both factors, nerve and muscle, may be involved. They 

 worked with apocodein, a substance which, in large doses, paralyzes 

 the vasomotor nerve terminals. 31 



When a sensitized dog was treated with apocodein and the anti- 

 gen then injected, no further drop of pressure was obtained. Appar- 

 ently a paralysis of the vasomotor nerve endings had removed the 

 point of attack upon which the anaphylactic poison could act. 



In addition to the symptoms already enumerated Weichhardt and 



20 Calvary. Munch, med. Woch., No. 13, 1911. 

 30 Heidenheim. P finger's Archiv, 49, 1891. 

 31 Brodie and Dixon. Jour, of Phys. } 30, 1904. 



