^ovimber.wo™  }     Preparations  of  the  Suprarenal  Glands.  531 
The  therapeutic  efficacy  of  adrenalin  has  already  been  established 
beyond  doubt,  and  it  will  unquestionably  obtain  a  prominent  place 
in  the  materia  medica. 
There  are  several  useful  applications  of  adrenalin  in  arts  and 
industry ;  for  instance,  a  developer  of  photographic  plates,  as  a  re- 
ducing agent  in  chemical  analysis,  art  of  dyeing,  etc. 
In  concluding  this  paper,  I  desire  to  state  that  my  thanks  are  due 
to  Dr.  E.  M.  Houghton,  of  Detroit,  for  making  the  physiological 
test,  and  also  my  thanks  and  large  share  of  credit  are  due  to  Mr. 
Wooyenaka,  my  associate,  for  his  energetic  and  able  assistance  in 
accomplishing  this  interesting  investigation. 
THE  PHARMACOLOGIC  ASSAY  OF  PREPARATIONS  OF 
THE  SUPRARENAL  GLANDS.1 
By  E.  M.  Houghton,  M.D. 
Since  Adison,  in  1855,  called  attention  to  the  relation  of  path, 
ological  lesions  of  the  suprarenal  glands  to  the  disease  which  has 
since  borne  his  name,  these  bodies  have  been  the  subject  of 
numerous  researches  by  workers  in  all  lines  of  medical  science. 
The  histologist,  the  chemist,  the  physiologist  and  pharmacologist 
has  each  contributed  his  share  to  the  sum  total  of  the  results  ob- 
tained, which,  often  enough,  have  been  widely  divergent.  But  it  is 
not  my  purpose  to  review  the  history  of  this  interesting  subject,  It 
may  be  remarked,  however,  that  for  the  first  forty  years  the  active 
principle  found  in  these  glands  was  the  plaything  of  science,  then 
leaped  into  prominence  when  Bates  discovered  that  it  could  be  em- 
ployed as  an  astringent  in  ophthalmology,  since  which  time  physi- 
cians are  finding  new  uses  for  it  almost  daily.  In  the  course  of  some 
experimental  work  on  the  pharmacology  of  the  adrenals,  it  appeared 
possible  to  take  advantage  of  the  marvelous  influence  of  the  active 
principle  contained  in  extracts  of  these  bodies  upon  the  blood  pres- 
sure which  had  been  observed  by  Oliver  and  Shafer  as  a  means  of 
measuring  their  activity.  Furthermore,  it  seemed  quite  advisable, 
as  we  had  no  chemical  means  of  standardizing  them,  that  some 
method  of  assay  should  be  found,  since  in  all  probability  in  keeping 
with  products  of  similar  nature  there  must  be  much  variation  in  the 
1  Presented  at  the  St.  L,ouis  meeting  of  the  American  Pharmaceutical  Asso- 
ciation, September,  1901. 
