AbstractsBiology & Animal Science

The peripheral circulation has long been an object of intense study. Besides its obvious medical importance, for example, in shock and hypertension, it is a fundamental factor in the integration of the various organs of the vertebrate body. A great amount of knowledge has been obtained by indirect means, such as the effects of various pharmacological agents on the blood pressure or on the rate of flow through isolated perfused organs. In addition, a number of ingenious techniques have been developed for the direct observation of the peripheral circulation. In all such studies the peripheral circulation is of interest as the site acted upon by the stimulus, chemical or physical, in question.