Abstract
Our present knowledge of the peristalsis of the ureter is based essentially upon the observations of Engelmann described by him about 35 years ago. He studied the peristaltic movements by simple inspection of the ureter in dogs, cats and rabbits. According to Engelmann, the contractions of the ureter in rabbits occur at intervals of 10 to 20 seconds. There were practically no other studies of the subject until a few years ago when Fagge investigated the effect of stimulation of the hypogastric nerves upon the ureter and obtained graphic records of the peristaltic movements. He makes the surprising statement that the ureter in many cases was found to be motionless or to present slight contractions or groups of contractions recurring every 30 to 60 seconds.
For the last two years I have been engaged in experimental studies of the ureter, which were carried out in the laboratory of biological chemistry at the College of Physicians and Surgeons. Some of the results of that work I had the honor to present at a meeting of this Society in April, 1905. 1 During the past summer I have studied the course of the normal peristalsis of the ureter (of the dog) at the Rockefeller Institute, under the direction of Dr. S. J. Meltzer.
The results that I wish to report here very briefly are as follows :
In dogs narcotized with morphin the peristaltic contractions of the middle part of the ureter occur at intervals varying between 6 and I 5 seconds. The curves representing these contractions are of variable but generally of fairly good size. The duration of such a contraction may vary from 5 to 15 seconds. The variations of the size and duration of these peristaltic contractions depend upon the size of the animal, the amount of secretion of urine, and many other conditions which I shall not attempt to discuss here.
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