In the present paper, the authors attempted to investigate and discuss the actions of nicotine, which is an alkaloid possessing pharmacologically specific actions, employing developing hen's eggs according to the methods reported in the past. In the present work, experiments were conducted aiming at the elucidation, of the influence of nicotine on the general development of chick embryo and the disorders induced thereby.
The development of chick embryos in the developing hen's eggs injected with nicotine is hindered, and not infrequently pronounced edema covering the whole body is observed. The degree of the edema corresponds to the rise of the concentration of nicotine with which the eggs were treated. In these cases, the amount of allantoic fluid is found to be remarkably reduced, and a tendency of reduction in the amount of calcium, magnesium, sodium and potassium secreted in the urine is observed.
