UPON THE FORMATION OF HYDROCHLORIC ACID 

 IN THE FOVEOL/E AND ON THE SURFACE OF 

 THE GASTRIC MUCOUS MEMBRANE AND THE 

 NON-ACID CHARACTER OF THE CON- 

 TENTS OF GLAND CELLS AND LUMINA. 1 



B. C. H. HARVEY AND R. R. BENSLEY. 



CONTENTS. 



Introduction 225 



Facts which Have Suggested Some Association between the Parietal Cells and 



the Hydrochloric Acid or its Antecedents 226 



The Prussian Blue Reaction 227 



Fitzgerald's Paper 228 



Our Own Experiments 230 



Summary of the Results Obtained by the Prussian Blue Reaction 



and their Significance 237 



Experiments with Indicators: The Reaction of the Secretion within the Lumen 

 of the Active Fundus Gland and within the Intracellular Canaliculi of 



the Parietal Cells 239 



Confirmatory Tests 245 



The Consistence of the Secretion in the Giand Lumen 247 



Other Considerations 248 



Bibliography 248 



INTRODUCTION. 



Ever since it was discovered that hydrochloric acid was pro- 

 duced by the stomach, investigators have been interested in deter- 

 mining the mode and place of its formation. Is this acid pro- 

 duced as such by the gastric glands and even by particular cells 

 of these glands, or do the glands produce only chemical sub- 

 stances which are not themselves acid but which, interacting in 

 the foveolae or on the surface of the mucous membrane, produce 

 there for the first time the acid as such? 



Among those who have sought to discover the origin of this 

 acid, Claude Bernard, Briicke, Lepine, Trinkler, Gmelin and 

 Oppel were unable to find it definitely localized in the glands. 



The results of our investigation demonstrate that only non- 

 acid substances are formed by the glands, and that the contents 

 of the gland cells and lumina are not acid, even when hydro- 



1 From the Hull Laboratory of Anatomy, University of Chicago. 



225 



