Diagram of pathogenic organisms in illustration of the discussion on "Micro-organisms in Disease" at the 51st annual meeting of the British Medical Association, Liverpool, August, 1883 / by A. Barron & F. W. Mott.
- Barron, Alexander.
- Date:
- 1883
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Diagram of pathogenic organisms in illustration of the discussion on "Micro-organisms in Disease" at the 51st annual meeting of the British Medical Association, Liverpool, August, 1883 / by A. Barron & F. W. Mott. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by Royal College of Physicians, London. The original may be consulted at Royal College of Physicians, London.
7/60 page 197
![Physiological Action, and Antagonism By T. Lauder Brunton, M.D., F.R.S., and J. Theodore Cash, M.D. Received June 13,—Read June 21, 1883. [Plates 8-10.] The great object of Pharmacology is to obtain such a knowledge of the relation between the chemical constitution and physiological action of bodies as to be able to predict with certainty what the action of any substance will be. One of the most important steps towards this object was made by Crum-Brown and Fraser, who showed that the introduction of methyl into the molecule of strychnia or thebaia changed the tetanising action of those poisons on the spinal cord into a paralyzing one on the ends of the motor nerves. As the organic alkaloids are compound ammonias, it seemed probable that a similar change in the chemical constitution of ammonia itself might produce a corresponding change in physiological action. This was tested by Crum-Brown and Fraser, who found that trimethyl-ammonium iodide possessed a paralyzing action similar to that of methyl strychnia or methyl thebaia, while ammonia itself has been shown by Funke and Deahna to have a tetanising action very much like that of strychnia. A number of other ammonium compounds have been shown to have a similar paralyzing action; but there is no complete investigation of the whole series, nor has the relation of the acid with which the base is combined been determined. In the present research we have attempted— 1st. To ascertain how the general action of ammonia is modified by its combination with an acid radical. Under this heading we have investigated : (a) the alteration in its general effects upon the organism ; and (b) the alterations in muscle and nerve by which the general effects are to a great extent determined. 2nd. To investigate the general action of the compound ammonias containing the more common radicals of the alcohol series in the same way as the ammonium salts in the first part of the paper. * The present research forms part of an investigation into the action of certain drugs on muscle and nerve, for which a grant was given to one of us (Beunton) in 1877, but the prosecution of which was much delayed by various circumstances, amongst others, the rebuilding of the laboratory in which the experiments were made.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b28271853_0009.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
