162 OF FOOD, AND THE DIGESTIVE PROCESS. 



According to the experiments of Dr. Severe 1 , 1 the process of alcoholic fer- 

 mentation is materially interfered with by fresh gastric juice, the obstruct- 

 ing agency being exerted upon the ferment, and not upon the fermentable 

 substance. The lactic acid fermentation is not checked by fresh gastric 

 juice; but this fluid, as Spallanzani long ago showed, is capable of com- 

 pletely stopping the progress of putrefactive fermentation. The Tempera- 

 ture of the Stomach rises with the increase of vascular and secretory ac- 

 tivity which takes place during digestion. Dr. F. Smith found the ordi- 

 nary temperature of St. Martin's stomach while fasting to be 98 99 D 

 Fahr., whilst during digestion it rose to 100- -101 Fahr. 2 



113. That the secretion of Gastric Juice is affected in a very marked 

 manner by conditions of the Nervous system, is indicated by the effect of 

 mental emotions in putting an immediate stop to the digestive process, when 

 it is going on with full vigor. It does not appear to be exactly determined 

 by what channel such influence is conveyed. Experiments which have been 

 made upon animals with a view of ascertaining the share which the nervous 

 influence conveyed by the Pneumoyastrics takes in digestion, have led to dif- 

 ferent, though perhaps when all the conditions are considered, to reconcilable 

 results in the hands of different experimenters. The immediate result of the 

 division of these nerves is to arrest the movements and the secretion of the 

 stomach. The organ becomes pale and flaccid, 3 the reaction of the juice 

 feebly acid or neutral, and the quantity of pepsin produced diminished.' 1 

 Any food that may be contained in it consequently undergoes only slight 

 and superficial digestion. If the animal survives the respiratory and circu- 

 latory troubles resulting from the operation, a re-establishment of the digestive 

 power manifests itself after an interval of some days ; and the experiments 

 of both Dr. Reid 5 and Schiff show that when life is sufficiently prolonged, 

 the power of assimilation and absorption is almost completely restored : the 

 evidence of this restoration consisting in the recovery of flesh and blood 

 by the animals, the acidity of the contents of the stomach, and the disap- 

 pearance of a considerable quantity of alimentary matter from the intesti- 

 nal canal, with the existence of chyle in the lacteals. 6 Longet 7 found that 

 milk was coagulated on the second day after the division of the pneumogas- 

 trics, and that small quantities of meat or other food were digested easily 

 enough, though large masses were only superficially affected. The experi- 

 ments of Schiff 8 seem to prove that the chief permanent effect of section of 

 the pneumogastrics is to prevent the stomach from co-operating in the act of 

 vomiting, whilst it does not interfere with the reflex movements of digestion. 



prived us of any consciousness of either the existence or the shite of the stomach 

 during health. In accordance with this, Dr. Beaumont's experiments prove, that 

 extensive erythematic inflammation of the mucous coat of the stomach was of fre- 

 quent occurrence in St. Martin after excesses in eating, and especially in drinking, 

 even when no marked general symptom was present to indicate its existence. Occa- 

 sionally, febrile heat, nausea, headache, and thirst were complained of, but not always. 

 Had St. Martin's stomach, and its inflamed patches, not been visible to the eye, lie 

 too might have pleaded that his temporary excesses did him no harm; but, when 

 they presented themselves in such legible characters that Dr. Beaumont could not 

 miss seeing them, argument and supposition were at an end, and the broad fact could 

 not be denied." 



1 Hoppe-Seylers Med. Chem. Untcrsuch., 1867, p. 2'>7. 2 Loc. cit. 



3 Bernard, Le9ons, 1859, vol. ii, p. 81. ' Schitf, Op. cit., Lec.on xxxii. 



5 Edinb. Med. and Surg. Journ , April, 1839; and Physiological, Anatomical, and 

 Pathological Researches, chap v. Dr. Reid's results have been confirmed as to this 

 important particular by llubbpiiet (Op. cit.), and more recently by Bidder and 

 Schmidt, III. Med. Zeitung, 1852, Heft viii, p. 112. 



6 For corroborative evidence, see Budge, Physiologic, 1802, p. 175. 



7 Physiologic, vol. i, pp. 23G-7, 1861.' 8 Loc! cit., Lemons xxxi and xxxii. 



