Observations on Adrenal Insufficiency.

The influence of the adrenal cortex upon electrolyte physiology and renal function has been the subject of many recent investigations (1, 2, 3). Improvement in the preparation of cortical extract has been advanced to a state where it is now possible to maintain experimental animals in perfect health indefinitely under the standard conditions of metabolism experiments. This step forward affords an opportunity to make observations over long periods of time on the same animal, and thereby to study repeatedly the results following the termination and the reestablishment of cortical extract or sodium chloride therapy. The present work employs this technique to study the gradual as well as the rapid development of adrenal insufficiency. It includes also the effects of alterations in the sodium intake upon the varying experimental states thus produced.