IS EPINEPHRIN INDISPENSABLE FOR THE ORGANISM?

The physiologic potency of epinephrin has given it a widespread prominence alike in physiology, pharmacology, pathology and therapy. Any one who has witnessed the intense blood pressure raising effects of almost vanishingly small quantities of suprarenal extract or of the isolated epinephrin cannot fail to be impressed by such striking manifestations on the part of a biologic product. The diversity of the responses which can be produced serves to augment still more the interest in the active principle of the suprarenal structures. The local styptic power, so invaluable in diminishing inflammation and reducing hemorrhages; the relaxation of the muscles of the bronchioles, now familiar in the management of asthma; the profound effects on all structures innervated by the sympathetic nervous system; the production of hyperglycemia and glycosuria following administration of epinephrin, and its consequent relation to liver function—these are some of the familiar phenomena that have been demonstrated repeatedly or