STUDIES ON THE CIRCULATION IN MANStewart, G. N.
doi: 10.1084/jem.22.1.1pmid: 19867898
1. In cases in which great inequalities in the blood flow in the two hands were produced by mechanical causes (ligation or compression of vessels, embolism), the stability of the ratio of the flows, in successive measurements at short intervals, was found to be characteristic. Over long intervals the opening up of collateral circulation or the progressive increase of the block (in a case of multiple embolism with thrombosis) was followed by changes in the ratio of the blood flows in the normal and the affected part. Another criterion of these conditions was found to be that the inequality was not abolished by producing general vasomotor changes; e. g ., by altering the external temperature. 2. In certain cases inequalities in the blood flow in the two hands (or feet) were found which were not stable from day to day, and which could be abolished, reduced, increased, or reversed by alterations in the external conditions which bring about general vasomotor changes. These inequalities, not associated with clinically recognizable differences between the parts compared, were interpreted as due to unequal activity of the vasomotor mechanism on the two sides. The condition appeared to be most frequent in certain groups of neurological cases. Footnotes Submitted: 17 March 1915
HIBERNATION AND THE PITUITARY BODYCushing, Harvey; Goetsch, Emil
doi: 10.1084/jem.22.1.25pmid: 19867901
A train of symptoms, coupled with retardation of tissue metabolism and with inactivity of the reproductive glands, not only accompanies states of experimentally induced hypophysial deficiency, but is equally characteristic of clinical states of hypopituitarism. The more notable of these symptoms are a tendency, in the chronic cases, toward an unusual deposition of fat, a lowering of body temperature, slowing of pulse and respiration, fall in blood pressure, and oftentimes a pronounced somnolence. These symptoms bear a marked resemblance to the physiological phenomena accompanying the state of hibernation which have heretofore been unsatisfactorily ascribed solely to extracorporeal factors; namely, a seasonal deprivation of food and low temperature. In a series of hibernating animals (woodchucks) it has been found that during the dormant period histological changes are apparent in many of the ductless glands. The most notable of these changes occur in the pituitary body, as previously observed by Gemelli. The gland not only diminishes in size, but the cells of the pars anterior in some animals at least completely lose their characteristic staining reactions to acid and basic dyes. At the end of the dormant period the gland swells, and as the cells enlarge they again acquire their differential affinity for acid, basic, and neutral stains, and at the same time karyokinetic figures may appear. Footnotes Submitted: 19 February 1915
LATE POISONING WITH CHLOROFORM AND OTHER ALKYL HALIDES IN RELATIONSHIP TO THE HALOGEN ACIDS FORMED BY THEIR CHEMICAL DISSOCIATIONGraham, Evarts A.
doi: 10.1084/jem.22.1.48pmid: 19867902
The central lobular necrosis in the liver, which has been regarded by some writers as characteristic of late chloroform poisoning, has been produced experimentally with a number of other drugs. It is, therefore, in no sense peculiar to chloroform poisoning. Substances which have been shown to produce a morphological picture indistinguishable from that of late chloroform poisoning are: (a) dichlor- and tetrachlormethane, (b) tribrom- and triiodomethane, (c) monochlor-, monobrom-, and monoiodoethane, also the dibromethane; that is, in general, the halogen substituted aliphatic hydrocarbons containing one or two carbon atoms. Presumably similar results might be obtained with the higher members of the same series. The mechanism by which chloroform produces its characteristic tissue changes must accordingly be considered as a group reaction. Outside the body the similarities between the chemical behavior of different members of this group have been correlated by Nef on the basis of the type of dissociation which these substances undergo and the differences in their behavior on the basis of the differences of the degree to which such dissociations occur. According to the work of Nef, the group of substances under discussion has the property of dissociating to yield a halogen acid and an unsaturated alkylidene rest. Thus with chloroform the type of dissociation may be expressed thus: See PDF for Equation In this paper the view is developed that the changes characteristic of late poisonings with the above named group, namely edema, multiple hemorrhages, fat infiltration, and necrosis are ascribable (1) to acids and (2) to the fact that the amount of acid formed parallels the chemical dissociability of the drug outside of the body. Favoring the view that acid is responsible for the changes are the following observations. 1. All the characteristic features of late chloroform poisoning have been produced merely by the administration of hydrochloric acid, except, however, for a different distribution of the liver necrosis. 2. The areas of central necrosis produced in the liver by the various substances under discussion give an acid reaction to neutral red. 3. Sodium carbonate in a hypertonic sodium chloride solution markedly inhibits the production of the lesions. Footnotes Submitted: 13 March 1915
THE FORM OF THE EPITHELIAL CELLS IN CULTURES OF FROG SKIN, AND ITS RELATION TO THE CONSISTENCY OF THE MEDIUMUhlenhuth, Eduard
doi: 10.1084/jem.22.1.76pmid: 19867903
1. Fragments of skin from the leopard frog ( Rana pipiens ) were cultivated in media of varying consistency. A mixture of frog plasma, frog muscle extract, chicken plasma, and chicken embryo extract usually produced a very firm medium; a mixture of frog plasma, frog muscle extract, and chicken plasma, one less firm (semi-firm); and a mixture of frog plasma and frog muscle extract a medium of a consistency varying from soft to liquid. 2. ( a ) In a firm medium the cells which migrate into the medium are polyhedral (polygonal when seen from above) in form, which shape they retain permanently. They remain united in a compact membrane, the central parts of which consist of several (three to four) layers of cells. Migration of isolated cells into the medium does not take place. ( b ) In the semi-firm media the cells situated at the edge of the membrane become fusiform in shape, gradually detach themselves from the membrane, and stray out individually into the medium. This causes the membrane to become loose in character, and to contain holes, while its edges at the same time become very irregular and send out pointed projections. ( c ) In a soft medium the cells are fusiform or thread-like in shape. The migration of isolated cells is much more pronounced than in the semi-firm media, as a result of which the membrane undergoes constant and rapid loosening up. By this means whole portions of the membrane become detached and their separate parts are at first united by the thread-like columnar cells, which become drawn out in the form of long threads upon the separation of the individual sections of the membrane. The loosening up of the membrane is further assisted by liquefaction and the consequent formation of vacuoles; the latter process likewise results in the formation of thread-like columnar cells. ( d ) Liquid media contain only round cells. 3. This serves to explain numerous internal processes of the organism, especially certain changes of form observed by Leo Loeb in transplantations of wound scabs and of skin; the conditions artificially produced by Leo Loeb must have effected a change in the consistency of the medium. 4. It has been shown that it is unnecessary, for a satisfactory explanation of the above findings, to have recourse to the theories of "functional stimulus" or "inhibiting influences," by means of which Champy wished to account for the variations in the morphological character of the cells. Footnotes Submitted: 12 May 1915
THE OCCURRENCE OF CARRIERS OF DISEASE-PRODUCING TYPES OF PNEUMOCOCCUSDochez, A. R.; Avery, O. T.
doi: 10.1084/jem.22.1.105pmid: 19867899
Lobar pneumonia in 75 per cent of instances is due to specific types of pneumococci possessed of a high degree of pathogenicity. Although pneumococci occur in the mouths of 60 per cent of normal individuals, such organisms are readily distinguishable from the highly parasitic types of pneumococcus responsible for the severe forms of lobar pneumonia, a convincing proof that infection in this disease is, in the majority of instances, not autogenic in nature, but is derived from some extraneous source. In a high percentage of instances healthy persons intimately associated with cases of lobar pneumonia harbor the disease-producing types of pneumococcus. In every such instance the pneumococcus isolated has corresponded in type with that of the infected individual. Convalescents from pneumonia carry for a considerable length of time the type of pneumococcus with which they have been infected. The existence of the carrier state among healthy persons and among those recently recovered from pneumonia establishes a basis for understanding the mechanism by means of which lobar pneumonia spreads and maintains its high incidence from year to year. Footnotes Submitted: 20 May 1915