PREFACE TO THE RUSSIAN EDITION 



IT was not at all my intention, in these lectures, to treat of every- 

 thing which has been written concerning the work of the digestive 

 glands. I only wished to make known the results of an 

 experimental investigation which, I am convinced, correctly 

 indicates the present position of the subject, and to communicate 

 the same to my hearers, partly by word of mouth and partly by 

 direct demonstration. The subject of these lectures represents the 

 work of my laboratory for nearly ten years ; and since every 

 experiment which deals with the functions of the gastric glands, 

 and of the pancreas, has been many times repeated, elaborated, 

 varied, and extended ; the material has, for us at least, lost its 

 fragmentary character and grown into a complete whole. 



When I employ the word " we " in the following text, I wish 

 to indicate the whole laboratory. In the description of the several 

 experiments I always mention the author. But the object of the 

 experiment, its meaning and its position in the whole series, is 

 spoken of from the point of view of the laboratory, without giving 

 the individual opinions and views of the author. It is of essential 

 advantage to the reader to see how a uniform guiding principle 

 has developed, and taken shape in the form of tenable and 

 harmoniously linked experiments. In its main idea the book 

 embodies the latest views of our laboratory ; it embraces all 

 the facts, even the most recent, which have been constantly 

 tested, frequently corrected, and now appear to be securely 

 established. In its production all my fellow workers have 



