56 INTERNAL SECRETION 



rise to oedema), that if one injects rabbits with serum or cedema- 

 tous fluid from a rabbit affected with uranium nephritis, one 

 gets oedema in this case also. Timofeen, from a review of the 

 work of previous experimenters and on the basis of his own 

 investigations, believes that the cause of the oedema in neph- 

 ritis is the passing into the blood of certain lymphagogue 

 substances, the source of which is a substance he calls " nephro- 

 blaptin " arising in the diseased kidney. 



A discussion of this question would not be complete without 

 a reference to the work which has been carried out upon the 

 influence of the kidney on metabolism. Sir J. Rose Bradford 

 removed portions of the kidney from animals, and subse- 

 quently studied their metabolism. He obtained results which 

 suggested that when the amount of available kidney substance 

 is greatly reduced the tissues of the body, and more especially 

 the muscles, rapidly break down and liberate urea. But he 

 states that he has no observations to show whether this is 

 dependent upon the cessation of the action of an internal 

 secretion supplied normally by the kidney. 



Biedl performed a series of experiments of a similar nature 

 upon dogs. He excised wedge-shaped pieces of the kidney, 

 removing about a quarter of a kidney, and sometimes removed 

 the whole of the other kidney in addition. It was found that 

 after such operations the quantity of urine secreted was notably 

 increased, even up to two, three, four, or five times the original 

 amount. At the same time the total nitrogen excreted was 

 much increased. V. Haberer also reports polyuria after ex- 

 cision of portions of the kidney substance. It is not possible 

 to state whether these changes are really due to a deficiency 

 in a normal process of internal secretion on the part of the 

 kidney. 



Notwithstanding the conflicting nature of the evidence as 

 to an internally secreting function of the kidney, many authors 

 insist that renal hormone therapy is of considerable value in 

 many cases. Many French writers recommend kidney extracts 

 in nephritis, but it is usually advised to persist in ordinary 

 measures of treatment and to employ the renal extracts as 

 adjunct remedies. 



