Abstract
The liver was the first tissue to which the function of internal secretion was ascribed by the genius of Claude Bernard. The liver is further the place of the most manifold and intense chemical processes in the animal body and no single cellular unit is in possession of so many enzymes as the liver cell. Yet as to internal secretion of the liver our knowledge is very scanty and modern text-books of endocrinology make little mention of the liver in this connection.
Dr. Takahashi and myself have made a series of experiments on the question as to whether the liver contributes towards the chemical regulation of the heart-beat. We have employed methods which we have been using for related questions since the year 1917 in studying the possible chemical basis of the action of antagonistic nerves, such as those regulating the beat of the heart. We used frog's heart as this is very sensitive to slight changes in chemical conditions and allows easy investigation under controlled conditions without any other influences hampering the results. Either a normal Ringer's solution, or Ringer's solution mixed with blood, was perfused from a small collecting vessel by way of the vena cava interior through the heart and returned from the aorta to the collecting vessel. We used this method in order to be able to work with small quantities of the fluid and to collect any substances which may be formed during the course of the experiment. The beat of the heart is recorded by aid of a suspension lever. Bothvagi are laid on electrodes and stimulated from a graduated Kronecker induction coil to ascertain the excitability of the vagi.
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