226 INTERNAL SECRETION 



stimulation of the vagus produces hypersecretion of the pancreas, 

 Eppinger, Falta, and Rudinger tested the effect of pilocarpin 

 which is a specific toxin to the autonomous stimulatory system 

 in adrenalin glycosuria, and found that its action in this con- 

 dition was completely inhibitory. 



The conclusions to which the results described above seem to 

 point are : that adrenalin exercises an inhibitory influence upon 

 the internal secretory activity of the pancreas ; and that the 

 internal secretion of the pancreas limits the action of adrenalin 

 in certain directions. The pancreas hormone regulates the 

 metabolism of sugar in the organism, and its influence may serve 

 to limit, or even to prevent, the hyperglycaemia and glycosuria 

 which result from the superfluity of the carbohydrates, brought 

 about by the agency of adrenalin. Lowi's reaction points further 

 to the conclusion that the pancreas hormone exercises an influence 

 upon the inhibition of certain organs possessing a sympathetic 

 innervation. Where the activity of the pancreas is normal, the 

 mydriatic action of adrenalin is not manifested, but appears only 

 after suppression of the pancreatic internal secretion. 



The manner in which the action of adrenalin is modified by 

 the thyroid apparatus has already been discussed at length. It 

 will be remembered that, according to Eppinger, Falta, and 

 Rudinger, adrenalin fails not only to produce glycosuria, but also 

 to raise the blood-pressure in animals which have been deprived 

 of their thyroid. Ritzmann pointed out that, in animals with an 

 excess of glycogen, the glycosuric action of adrenalin is less 

 affected by thyroid suppression than the vaso-constrictor. 

 Removal of the parathyroids increases adrenalin glycosuria. 

 According to these authors, then, the thyroid promotes the action 

 of adrenalin while the parathyroids inhibit it. They ascribe the 

 increased metabolism of albumin and of fats, which follows the 

 exhibition of adrenalin, to promotion of the thyroid function ; so 

 that it appears that adrenalin, in its turn, promotes the activity 

 of the thyroid and inhibits that of the parathyroids. 



There is yet another direction in which the animal organism 

 is affected by the action of adrenalin, namely, the temperature of 

 the body. The subcutaneous and intraperitoneal injection of 

 adrenalin sometimes produces a considerable rise in temperature ; 

 the effect of intravenous injection is less marked. Whether this 

 increase is due to an increased production of heat or to a 

 diminished radiation, is at present unknown. It may be that 

 both factors are in operation, the increase in combustion arising 

 out of the excess of carbohydrates, the decrease in radiation from 

 the extreme vaso-constriction. The analogy between the conditions 

 under which the metabolism of the carbohydrates takes place, 

 suggests a comparison between the effect which adrenalin has 

 upon temperature and the so-called " heat-puncture " ; for adren- 

 alin raises the heat-tone (Warmetonus) by acting upon the 



