August 6, 1915] 



SCIENCE 



171 



base obtained by saponifying tbis benzoyl 

 derivative were shown by me (1898) to pos- 

 sess the eharaeteristie chemical and physio- 

 logical properties of the gland itself. To 

 the principle thus isolated I gave the name 

 epinephrin. Very soon after this v. Fiirth 

 (1899-1900) isolated the principle under 

 discussion in the form of an amorphous 

 indigo-colored iron compound, and in 1901, 

 Takamine and Aldrich succeeded inde- 

 pendently in precipitating the native sub- 

 stance with the help of ammonia, and with- 

 out first subjecting it to the more compli- 

 cated processes which had been used by 

 myself some years before. 



These results were soon followed by the 

 brilliant researches of a number of organic 

 chemists, Dakin, Jowett, Pauly and Fried- 

 mann, which culminated in the synthetic 

 production, first, of the racemic form by 

 Stolz in 1906, and later of the levorotatory 

 form by Flacher in 1908, the form in which 

 the substance exists in the gland itself. 

 The chemical history of this remarkable 

 blood-pressure-raising constituent which is 

 found wherever chromaphil tissue is en- 

 countered is therefore now a closed chap- 

 ter. We are no longer dependent upon the 

 glands of the ox or the sheep for its prepa- 

 ration for the many uses to which it is put 

 by the medical specialist, the surgeon and 

 the general practitioner, but shall always 

 be able to produce it in our laboratories as 

 long as coal-tar remains at our disposal. 

 In chemical language it is described as a 

 di-hydroxymethyl-aminoethylol benzene, or 

 more concisely and simply, it is an aro- 

 matic amino alcohol. It is as noteworthy 

 for its instability in solution as it is remark- 

 able for its physiological properties. It is 

 a true product of internal secretion and 

 can apparently be detected in the venous 

 blood of the adrenal glands.^^ I shall not 



Pharmacol, and Exp. Therapeutics, Vol. 3, p. 327, 

 1912. 



further describe its chemical properties, 

 but would call your attention to the fact 

 that in at least one animal, a tropical toad, 

 Bufo agua, this principle occurs also as a 

 constituent of an external secretion. 



The toad, I may say here, has a very in- 

 teresting history.^* It has been regarded 

 from the earliest times as a poisonous ani- 

 mal and various races, including our own, 

 have long made medicinal use of its skin. 

 The Chinese to this day use as a cure for 

 dropsy a preparation derived from toad 

 skia, called senso. Among western nations 

 it has always been a folk's remedy, and al- 

 most up to the time of the introduction of 

 digitalis (1775) as a medical agent our 

 very best medical authorities used these 

 skins in cases of dropsy. Dr. Langworthy, 

 Department of Agriculture, Washington, 

 has given me the following recipe for mak- 

 ing a toad ointment which was in use 

 among our early New England colonists for 

 the treatment of sprains and rheumatism. 

 Toad ointment: good-sized live toads, 4 in 

 number; put into boiling water and cook 

 very soft; then take them out and boil the 

 water down to one half pint, and add fresh 

 churned, unsalted butter 1 pound and sim- 

 mer together; at the last add tincture of 

 arnica 2 ounces. 



The particular toad, Bufo agua, to which 

 I have referred, is of further interest be- 

 cause the aborigines of the Upper Amazon 

 make an arrow poison from the creamy se- 

 cretion that exudes from its skin glands 

 when it is irritated or overheated, a poison 



33 It has not been conclusively shown that the 

 blood-pressure-raising constituent of this blood is 

 really epinephrin (adrenalin) and- not an altera- 

 tion product. 



34 Abel and Maeht, "The Poisons of the Trop- 

 ical Toad, Bufo agua,'' Jour. Amer. Med. Assoc, 

 Vol. 56, p. 1,531, 1911, and "Two Crystalline 

 Pharmacological Agents obtained from the Trop- 

 ical Toad, Bufo agua," Jour. Pharmacol, and Exp. 

 Therapeutics, Vol. 3, p. 1,319, 1912. 



