U THE WORK OF THE DIGESTIVE GLANDS. 



properties of their secretions, and which leave no room for doubt that we 

 may with perfect safety employ the small stomach as a means of studying 

 the function of the normal organ. In our next lecture even the minia- 

 ture stomach will show itself to be an instructive object worthy of 

 earnest attention . 



As has already been related, Dr. Fremont has recently succeeded 

 (since the publication of our method) in isolating the whole stomach of 

 the dog after the principle of Thiry ; that is to say, the lower end of 

 the oesophagus was united to the duodenum and a cannula made to heal 

 into the stomach, previously closed at both ends. This procedure, as I 

 shall later explain, can, however, only serve for some special experi- 

 ments upon gastric secretion. As a general method it possesses two or 

 three important defects. First, in ordinary digestion in such dogs 

 we can hardly reckon upon normal conditions of secretion, since the 

 gastric mucous membrane can never be reflexly excited by contact with 

 the food ; secondly, if food be introduced directly into the stomach, it 

 mixes with the gastric juice. Finally, as regards the collection of juice 

 for practical purposes, it appears to us that our combination of the 

 ordinary fistula with cesophagotomy possesses important advantages 

 over Dr. Fremont's procedure. Our method is incomparably simpler, 

 and, under suitable conditions of operation, is not attended by any 

 useless sacrifice of animals ; the dogs live for years in the enjoyment of 

 excellent health. Can this be said of Dr. Fremont's dogs ? 



The usual method of obtaining the juice from the miniature 

 stomach is as follows. A small indiarubber or glass tube, freely per- 

 forated at its deeper end, is led into the pouch. The tube either 

 remains in of itself or is fixed in by means of an elastic band brought 

 round the animal's body. Juice is collected either in the lying or 

 standing posture of the animal. 



This method of forming a miniature stomach, so far as I can for the 

 moment imagine, must be regarded as the only one possible which is at 

 the same time correct in principle. It possesses a few small disadvan- 

 tages, it is true, but these are only matters of detail, such, for instance, 

 as the maceration of the edges of the wound and the loss of some gastric 

 juice. But these defects can easily be counteracted, and, moreover, are 

 in themselves of trivial importance. They can, I hope, in time be 

 altogether avoided. Indeed, in the interests of a thorough investiga- 

 tion of the whole secretory work of the alimentary canal, a universal 

 simplification of the technique is to be desired, with a weeding-out of 

 minor defects, so that it may be possible to make several fistulte on the 

 same animal without endangering its life or health. 



It is obvious, from the sketch of digestion now given, how 

 important simultaneous and rigidly concordant investigations of the 



