GASTRIC SECRETION

Abstract

Pharmacologic substances which act on the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system, particularly those which act on the nerve supply of the gastro-intestinal tract, have been investigated extensively. The explanation for this lies in the various therapeutic applications to which such knowledge could be directed, as well as in the fact that numerous conflicting reports of results of similar experiments have led to the desire to arrive at the truth by further study. A brief résumé of the more important investigations which have been carried out with atropine, epinephrine and pilocarpine will aid materially in interpreting the results of this study. A review of the work of other investigators reveals plainly the conflicting conclusions drawn from these experiments. ATROPINE In 1882, Netchaev,¹ working in Pavlov's laboratory, found that atropine paralyzes gastric secretion. This work was later confirmed by Ushakov² who showed that atropine paralyzed the gastric secretion in animals during the