Читать книгу The Body at Work: A Treatise on the Principles of Physiology онлайн

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The suprarenal capsules yield a substance which has been termed “adrenalin.” It contains nitrogen, is crystallizable and dialysable; but its chemical relationships have not been made out as yet. It is not destroyed by boiling, nor by digestion with gastric juice. Injected into a vein, it causes, amongst other effects, an immense rise in blood-pressure, even though the amount injected be extraordinarily small. Applied locally as a wash or spray, a solution of 1 part in 10,000 produces marked blanching of the surface; and it is useful, in consequence, as a means of checking bleeding in small operations, especially those on the eye or the nose. It is a most energetic poison. Even ¼ milligramme is sufficient to kill a rabbit. In short, adrenalin acts like the most powerful drugs known to physicians; and this drug, manufactured by the suprarenal capsules, is constantly added to the blood. Disastrous consequences follow a failure in the regular supply.

The tone of the vascular system is maintained by adrenalin. The nature of its influence upon muscles is not known, but probably the complete loss of muscular strength, which is one of the most noticeable symptoms of disease of the suprarenal capsules, is an indirect result of the lowering of blood-pressure. The muscles, it must be remembered, make up about one-third of the weight of the body of a muscular man. For the exchange of their waste products for food, they are dependent upon an efficient circulation. They are unable to display their normal vigour when the vascular system is not up to its work.