NECESSITY FOR EXPERIMENTAL THERAPEUTICS. 173 



Hence in the above case, its secretory activity was increased ten- 

 fold. Conversely, when the work of the glands in the large stomach 

 was augmented, the activity of those in the small organ became 

 diminished. Thus, in certain pathological conditions of the large 

 stomach, the small organ inversely reflects the activity of the large. 



The relationship between the secretions of the large arid small 

 stomachs, under normal or pathological conditions of either, may be 

 determined in different ways. In the case of fasting animals, if the 

 fistula tube of the large stomach be opener], a secretion, which can be 

 measured, may be excited in both stomachs by offering the animal food. 

 Or, again, with the fistula tube open, flesh chopped up in small pieces, 

 or, still better, in the form, of mince-meat, may be given to eat for a 

 certain length of time. Any of the food which does not of itself drop 

 out at the fistula may be removed by washing, and then the juice from 

 both stomachs collected. Occasionally, also, in the third or fourth 

 hour of normal digestion, we opened the fistula of the large stomach, 

 allowed the contents to escape, then washed out the interior, and com- 

 pared the secretions from both cavities, which, in such cases, continues 

 for some time. Or lastly, towards the end of the digestion we often 

 found, on opening the fistula, that the large stomach was free from 

 food while the secretion from both the large and small still continued. 

 A comparison of the quantities of juice, then, gave, at once, the secretory 

 relationships of the two stomachs. 



The astonishing capabilities of the organs for vicarious activity 

 drove us irresistibly to an analysis of the purely physiological problem 

 namely, of the mechanism by which these compensatory events are 

 brought about. But I should like to indicate a certain importance 

 which is, 1 think, to be ascribed to the facts of experimental pathology 

 just communicated. It appears to me that, by investigations such as 

 these, the conditions of disease are better differentiated, the physiological 

 defensive arrangements more sharply defined from the purely patho- 

 logical, while the pathological state itself is subdivided into phases, and 

 accurately localised. I am firmly convinced that further endeavours 

 along such lines will lead to still more important results, and that we 

 shall in the end arrive at a knowledge of the processes of disease in the 

 alimentary canal, as accurate and complete as that which we now 

 possess of its admirably beautiful work under normal conditions. 



Are we, as experimentars, however, to rest satisfied with this? I 

 think not. When we see a deviation from the normal, and have grasped 

 the mechanism of its causation, we naturally wish to come back and 

 compare it with the normal. It is Qnly by so doing that the final 

 proof of our physiological knowledge being complete, can be furnished, 

 and of our having mastered, in point of fact, the whole problem under 



