ABSTRACT
Henry Hallet Dale is widely regarded as the founder of biochemical pharmacology, and there are few who have made a colossal impact on their respective fields. Dale's most famous contribution to pharmacology, however, was his elucidation of the role of acetylcholine in autonomic and somatic nervous function. As Dale began to examine ergot, he realised it was a treasure trove of active pharmacological substances, many of which were isolated by his colleague George Barger. Dale showed that histamine is found in many other bodily regions and released in response to injury. Histamine then caused constriction of the arteries along with a general "leakage" of the capillaries – a reaction supporting the immune response. By the early 1930s, most pharmacologists accepted that the parasympathetic branch of the vagus nerve secreted acetylcholine. Dale soon realised that non adrenaline mimicked the effects of sympathetic nervous stimulation more faithfully than adrenaline itself.
