Epinephrine

“ Let us rather explain that other wonder of nature, the air, which is drawn into the lungs, receives heat both by that already in and by the coagitation of the lungs; one part is turned back by respiration, and the other is received into a place called the ventricle of the heart. [132] There is another ventricle like it annexed to the heart, into which the blood flows from the liver through the hollow vein. Thus by one ventricle the blood is diffused to the extremities through the veins, and by the other the breath is communicated through the arteries ”

“ In man, standing erect, the heart is situated above its chief reservoir—the abdominal veins. The blood is raised by the action of the respiratory movements, which act both as a suction and as a force pump, for the blood is not only aspirated into the right ventricle by the expansion of the thoracic cavity, but is expressed from the abdomen by the descent of the diaphragm. When a man faints from fear, his muscular system is relaxed and respiration inhibited. The blood in consequence sinks into the abdomen, the face blanches and the heart fails to fill. ”

“ When an object is sighted which arouses fear, the brain cells flash instantaneous messages over the body, among others to the supra-renal glands or adrenals, just over the kidneys, and to the thyroid gland in the neck. Instantly these glands pour forth adrenalin and thyroid secretion into the blood, and the body responds. Blood pressure rises; brain cells speed up; the liver pours forth glycogen, its ready-to-burn fuel; sweat-glands send forth cold perspiration in order to regulate temperature; blood is pumped out from stomach and intestines to the external muscles. ”

“ After absorption their action, speaking generally, is exerted on the brain and spinal cord, and is at first slightly stimulant and afterwards depressing, even to the causing of sleepiness and stupor. Locally applied they depress the terminations of sensory nerves, and may thereby lessen pain. On the heart and circulation the effects are stimulant unless large doses are given, when the pulse becomes slow and blood-pressure much lessened. During excretion they irritate the kidneys and the sweat-glands, and thereby increase the excretion of urine and of sweat. ”

“ When this obstruction of the circulation by uric or carbonic acid prevails throughout the body, the blood pressure is too high in the arterial blood vessels and in the interior organs, such as heart, lungs, brain, etc., and too low in the surface, the extremities and in the venous circulation. The return flow of the blood to the heart through the veins is sluggish and stagnant because the force from behind, that is, the arterial blood pressure, is obstructed by the uric acid which clogs the minute capillaries that form the connection between the arterial and the venous systems. ”

“ He showed further that there are frequent adjustments in the distribution of the blood, even during sleep. Thus a strong stimulus to the skin or to a sense organ—but not strong enough to awaken the sleeper—caused a contraction of the vessels of the forearm, an increase of blood pressure, and a determination of blood towards the brain; and, on the other hand, on suddenly awakening the sleeper, there was a contraction of the vessels of the brain, a general rise of pressure, and an accelerated flow of blood through the hemispheres of the brain. ”

“ Taking the extracts for too long a time without intervals may, at times, produce disagreeable symptoms, such as palpitation of the heart, nervous excitability, sleeplessness, etc.; so that during the course of the treatment the patient should be examined every three or four days as to the condition of the heart and urine; and if the pulse rises above 90, if it were lower before, the treatment should be suspended for a few days; much meat, alcohol, strong tea or coffee, should be avoided. ”

“ METHODS OF ARTIFICIAL RESPIRATION.
Sylvester’s Method.—Lay the patient upon his back; kneel above the head, take firm hold of the arms above the elbow, and move them horizontally—first away from the body, then over the head until the hands touch behind; pull them backward for a few seconds. This process expands the chest cavity, and the lungs are filled with air, inducing inspiration. Return the arms to the first position, and make strong pressure on the sides of the chest and epigastrium to expel the air and effect expiration. Movements should not be too rapid ”

“ A low-pressure pulse is soft and compressible if the heart beat is weak. A slow pulse is generally stronger than a rapid one.
The nerve supply of the blood-vessels comes from the spinal cord through the vasomotor nerves, which are connected with the sympathetic system and are distributed to the smooth muscle fibers of the vessels. They are of two classes, the vasoconstrictors, which diminish the lumen of the vessels, and the vasodilators, which increase the size of the vessels. By these nerves the general tone of the arteries is kept up. ”

“ That you may the more easily grasp what I shall say, I will ask you, If it be possible for any human being to make one hundred inhalations in a minute and the heart's action is not increased more than ten or twenty pulsations over the normal, what should be the effect upon the brain and nerve centers?
If the function of oxygen in common air is to set free in the blood, either in the capillaries alone, or throughout the whole of the arterial circulation, carbonic acid gas ”

“ A strong pulse and bright red mucous membranes, are not as has been supposed, essential prerequisites to its employment. The mucosæ may be pale, or more likely cyanotic, and the pulse small and weak, from the over charging of the heart and its tendency to failure, and it is to relieve these conditions that we adopt this most potent of all measures for securing a temporary lessening of the blood pressure in the right heart and pulmonary circulation. ”

“ When this auricle becomes filled, it contracts and forces the stream of blood through an opening in the right ventricle of the heart, which in turn sends it on to the lungs, where it is distributed by millions of hair-like blood vessels to the air cells of the lungs, of which we have spoken. ”

“ Actions.—A cardiac and vascular tonic and stimulant, a motor excitant, paralyzant, anaphrodisiac, it is an indirect diuretic and an emetic, irritates the mucous membrane.
The heart is slowed but the force is increased; digitalis stimulates the cardiac motor ganglia, the inhibitory apparatus and the vaso-motor centers, contracting the arterioles and thereby greatly raising the arterial tension; large doses exhaust and paralyze the heart. ”

“ From the first breath which we draw after birth to our last dying gasp, we inspire air which is charged with pictures of our surroundings, and the same ether which carries that picture to the retina of our eye, is inhaled into our lungs where it enters the blood. Thus it reaches the heart in due time. In the left ventricle of that organ, near the apex, there is one little atom which is particularly sensitized, and which remains in the body all through life. ”

“ The lungs expand and the breathing is more profound; the heart thereupon beats fuller and more vigorously, while the subtle oxygen, no longer stealing into the body in a half-afraid, surreptitious way, but taking fuller possession at each more vigorous heart-beat, healthfully stimulates the nerves and the brain. ”

“ A hearty laugh moves the diaphragm up and down vigorously, empties and ventilates the lungs, stimulates the heart mechanically by its action upon the intra-thoracic viscera, and is one of the best tonics that we have for the circulation in the abdominal cavity, and probably also for the important nervous mechanisms centered there. ”

“ In the practice of the Complete Breath, during inhalation, the diaphragm contracts and exerts a gentle pressure upon the liver, stomach and other organs, which in connection with the rhythm of the lungs acts as a gentle massage of these organs and stimulates their actions, and encourages normal functioning. ”

“ Two or three pints of cold water at a temperature of forty to forty-five degrees drunk at intervals of half an hour will reduce the pulse from eight to thirty beats. The copious drinking of cold water will act as a diuretic, removing stagnated secretions, and will at the same time improve the quality of the pulse and the arterial tone. The drinking of warm water will increase the pulse from five to fifteen beats, and at the same time will relax the vessel walls and also increase the cutaneous secretions to a marked degree. ”

“ The adrenal or suprarenal gland lies just above the kidney, and anatomically has two parts, an outer cortex or shell, and an inner medulla or pulp. The medulla gives off adrenalin, which regulates blood pressure in all parts of the body through action on the blood vessels. The cortex gives off an unknown secretion which seems to have a remarkable influence. When it is diseased, certain curious things happen. ”

“ Not only is the respiratory centre stimulated but the cardiac centre is acted upon both directly by the drug and indirectly for a time by the enormous rise in blood pressure due to the contraction of the arterioles all over the body. ”