Abstract
THE relationship between physiological action and chemical constitution has been investigated for a number of compounds by animal experiment, when it is easy to compare and contrast the effects on a variety of systems of closely related substances. In spite of much work on the subject, no wide generalisations are yet possible, although it has been frequently shown that a very slight alteration in the molecule may enhance or decrease a particular physiological action: as an example may be mentioned the varying pressor effects of adrenaline and compounds closely related to it. The question is still less susceptible to investigation when the relationship between chemical structure and taste or smell is considered, since the experimental subject must be man and the investigator has to rely upon his subject' subjective sensations and cannot measure objectively the effect of his stimulus.
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Taste and Chemical Constitution. Nature 128, 124 (1931). https://doi.org/10.1038/128124a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/128124a0