284 A CHEMICO-PHYSIOLOGICAL STUDY OF 



investigator prepared the several products from blood-fibrin by 

 artificial gastric digestion, using the methods of Kuhne and 

 Chittenden in isolating and purifying the mixed proteoses and 

 peptone. Two products only were prepared, i. e., " propep- 

 tone," a varying mixture of primary and secondary proteoses, 

 and " peptone " or amphopeptone. These products were 

 introduced intravenously into the circulation of dogs and 

 other animals, and arterial blood-pressure registered. Grosjean 

 concluded from his experiments that " propeptone " introduced 

 into the circulation causes a considerable fall of arterial 

 pressure, the depression occurring at once after the injection 

 and quickly reaching its maximum. Further, the extent to 

 which arterial pressure is lowered is apparently not influenced 

 by the size of the dose, except when the latter amounts to less 

 than 15 centigrams per kilo of body-weight, in which case the 

 depression is much less marked. Moreover, as a rule, the 

 pressure once lowered is very slow in returning to the normal. 

 Thus, in one experiment where 1 gram of " propeptone " per 

 kilo was injected, arterial pressure was still below the normal 

 three and a half hours after the injection. With peptone, 

 there is likewise produced a fall of arterial pressure which, 

 however, is less marked, slower in reaching its maximum, and 

 of shorter duration than that caused by like doses of " pro- 

 peptone." Further, when the pressure returns toward the 

 normal it frequently rises slightly above the original height, 

 after which it again falls, although this second depression is 

 slight as compared with the first. 



Arthus and Huber * working with gelatoses and caseoses 

 formed by pancreatic digestion, observed that when these 

 bodies were introduced intravenously into dogs in large doses 

 (2 grams gelatoses per kilo ; 1.5 grams caseoses per kilo), 

 and the injections carried out rapidly, there was a marked 

 lowering of blood-pressure comparable to that obtained with 

 the fibrin proteoses. Here, too, no attempt was made to 

 differentiate the mixed caseoses or gelatoses into more specific 

 products. 



* Arthus and Huber, Archives de physiologic, 1896, p. 857. 



