This book presents the papers given in April, 1955, during two symposia on histamine in honor of Sir Henry Dale. The British Pharmacological Society and the Physiological Society, supported by the Wellcome and Ciba Foundations, arranged the meetings. An international group of those whose main interest is research on histamine was invited. The papers are divided among three general subjects: (1) the occurrence of histamine in the body, (2) the release of histamine, and (3) the origin, significance, and fate of histamine in the body.
The first symposium consists of 15 essays and 20 short communications. The second consists not only of the nine essays given formally but also a transcript of the discussion which followed each presentation and a final over-all discussion.
The material cannot be summarized briefly, but attention may be drawn to some of it. The widespread distribution of histamine in the body closely parallels the mast-cell