The autonomic nervous system / by J.N. Langley.

  • John Newport Langley
Date:
1921-
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: The autonomic nervous system / by J.N. Langley. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    adrenaline. Schafer (Endocrine Organs, p. 65, 1916) attributed his earlier results to substances other than adrenaline in the extracts. Takayasu described a lessened height and duration of contraction on immersing the frog’s sartorius in adrenaline *0002 p.c. and upwards. Okushima (Acta Schola med. Kioto 3, p. 251, 1919), on indirect stimu¬ lation of the gastrocnemius of the frog, obtained increased height of contraction with adrenaline -oooi p.c., and nerve paralysis with -oi p.c. (The Parke, Davis preparation used contains chloretone, and the effect of this was not tested). On direct stimulation of the muscle he found only a slight decrease with -oi p.c. adrenaline. Dessy and Grandis (A. Ital. de Biol. 41, p. 225, 1904) found in a frog-toad (Leptodactylus) that injection of adrenaline partially restored the height of muscular con¬ traction which had been reduced by a series of single induc¬ tion shocks. A similar but less effect was found on adding adrenaline to excised muscles. Panella (Ibid. 48, p. 430, 1907), in frogs, toads, rabbits and guinea pigs, confirmed an effect of adrenaline on fatigued muscles. Cannon and Nice (Amer. J. Physiol. 32, p. 44, 1913) showed that the effects previously produced were largely due to circulatory changes, but gave additional evidences of a direct action of adrenaline on muscular contraction. The most complete experiments on the mammal are those of Gruber (Ibid. 33, p. 358; 34, p. 89, 1914). Gruber and Fellows (Ibid. 46, p. 472, 1918) and on amphibia by Guglielmetti (Ouar. J. exp. Physiol. 12, p. 139, 1919). Other references are given in these papers. A recovery from fatigue produced by direct stimulation of the muscle has been found on giving adrenaline by Gruber in the curarised cat’s muscle and by Guglielmetti in the frog’s gastrocnemius. Okushima did not find that adrena¬ line had an effect on the fatigue of the frog’s gastrocnemius. The experiments so far made do not definitely decide whether the action of adrenaline on fatigue is due to an action throughout the muscle or not. In many of the experiments the nerve fibres may have been stimulated. Boruttau and Gruber found an effect after curari, but it is possible that the amount of curari did not reduce the excitability of the neural region of the muscle to that of the non-neural region. Panella (A. Ital. de Biol. 47, p. 17, 1907) and Gruber (op. cit. vol. 34) describe adrenaline as partially antagonising the paralysing action of curari. Some other observations on the effect of adrenaline on striated muscle I give on p. 76.
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