Abstract
1. It is assumed that the effect of the injection of adrenalin upon the temperature of the brain in normal animals can be used as a unit of measurement whereby to estimate the effect of an agent upon the oxidative power of the brain.
2. From these experiments it would appear that the alteration in the temperature of the brain following the injection of adrenalin is not notably effected by the effect of the agent upon the blood supply of the brain.
3. The following observations are of especial significance:
a. When adrenalin is injected in the presence of morphin, the temperature response of the brain is diminished, in direct relation to the depth of narcosis.
b. The injection of adrenalin in the presence of strychnin produces not only a characteristic rise in the temperature of the brain but also a marked decrease in the temperature of the liver.
c. Alcohol of itself alone produces a fall in temperature corresponding to that observed in rabbits in shock; while the injection of adrenalin in these animals produces a characteristic rise in temperature; this rise is followed by a fall which exceeds that observed in normal rabbits.
Note: Since the presentation of this paper a further series of experiments has been initiated, in which thermocouples are placed within the jugular vein and the carotid artery. The first experiment is illustrated by chart 6 and is cited here only as a preliminary report of an investigation which may aid in the interpretation of the studies summarized above. As will be noted by the chart, after each injection of adrenalin the temperature of the blood within the vein rose above that of the blood within the artery (fig. 6).
Footnotes
- Received July 3, 1923.
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