One of Dale’s responsibilities, which bored him to tears, was the routine analysis of ergot and organ extracts from the production department at Wellcome’s research laboratories. In 1906, he again had to determine the adrenaline activity of an adrenal extract administered to a cat, and he expected the usual rise in blood pressure. But he had obviously misstepped because, to his surprise, the cat’s blood pressure dropped. Dale reported to his colleagues that the supplied preparation was inactive. A week later, a new batch arrived and, as before, the cat’s blood pressure decreased. As the British physiologist reflected on this, it turned out that the animal had received ergot samples from Barger’s laboratory prior to the administration of the adrenaline extract. The effect observed by chance, which entered pharmacological literature as adrenaline reversal, led Dale to two grandiose conclusions: