50 THE WORK OF THE DIGESTIVE GLANDS. 



on the subject. It proves incontrovertibly that the gastric glands are 

 influenced through nerves by " distant effect," since the phenomenon 

 comes to pass without any immediate contact between the food and the 

 gastric mucous membrane. It only remained to make the experiment 

 constant and simple ; in other words, to facilitate its reproduction and 

 seek out its proper interpretation. 



As a matter of fact, I am now able to demonstrate experiments to 

 you which yield absolutely constant and unequivocal results. We 

 have here before us a dog operated upon in the manner I have described 

 in the first lecture. It possesses an ordinary gastric fistula with 

 metallic cannula, and has had its oesophagus divided as well, so that the 

 mouth is cut off from all communication with the cavity of the stomach. 

 Its stomach has been washed out before the beginning of the lecture, 

 and, as you see now, not a single drop of fluid escapes from the fistula. 

 I give the dog food. The animal eats greedily, but the whole of the 

 food swallowed, comes out again at the cesophageal opening in the neck. 

 After feeding in this way (which for shortness we will henceforth name 

 " sham feeding ")* for five minutes, perfectly pure gastric juice makes its 

 appearance at the fistula, the stream steadily becomes greater and greater, 

 and now, five minutes after the commencement of secretion, we have 

 already 20 c.c. of juice. We may continue to feed the dog as long as we 

 wish, the secretion will flow at the same rate for one, two, or more 

 hours. We have even had dogs so greedy that they did not tire of eating 

 in this fashion for five or six hours, secreting during the time a total 

 quantity of up to 700 c.c. of the purest gastric juice. The meaning of 

 this experiment is clear. It is obvious that the effect of the feeding is 

 transmitted by nervous channels to the gastric glands. 



Concerning what constitutes the actual stimulus in this case I 

 will deal later. At present we will carry our experiment a step 

 farther by dividing the vagi nerves. If now, before the division, we 

 take away the animal's food, the secretion does not cease immediately, 

 but is continued for a long time three to four hours gradually 

 dying out, Without waiting, however, for its complete cessation we 

 may proceed to further experiments. In the case of this dog, at 

 the time of making the gastric fistula, the light vagus nerve was 

 divided below its recurrent laryngeal and cardiac branches. In this 

 way, only the pulmonary and abdominal branches on the side in question 

 were thrown out of function, the laryngeal and cardiac fibres remained 

 intact. About three hours before the present lecture, I prepared the left 

 vagus free in the neck, passing a loop of thread round the nerve, but not 



: The corresponding Russian expression would be better represented by the 

 term " make-believe feeding." It expresses the idea, from the dog's point of view, 

 that it has really been fed. 



