#0 JQr^Proia qh Vigestion^ (Dge, 



le duodenum seulmgnt, aux depens des alimens qui ont6t^ dissous 

 dans l*estomac, et par Teffet de leur melange, tant avec la bile, 

 qu'avec le sue pancreatique,'* I read over these passages seve- 

 ral times with the view of discovering what connexion they had 

 with the point in question, or how they bore on it, but h^ve been 

 unable to discover, I simply asserted that in animals feeding 

 pa vegetable substances, tne albuminous principle is not deve- 

 loped till the digested matters come in contact with the bile 

 and pancreatic juice, and nothing more — a fact, by the bye, 

 which is confirmed by Messrs. Tiedeman and Gmelin ; but with 

 jespect to the introduction of albuminous matter into the 

 stomach, this is quite a different case ; and I can assure these 

 gentlemen that 1 never doubted for a moment if I had 

 examined the stomach of a dog, or any other animal, after 

 feeding it on albumen, that I should have found traces of thig 

 principle, not indeed entirely unchanged, but possessing most 

 of its oriojinal properties, 



MM. Tiedeman and Gmelin go on to observe with respect tp 

 the albumen in the duodenum, " S'il s'en trouve beaucoup plus 

 dans le contenu de I'intestin grele que dans celui de I'estomac, 

 cette circonstance depend du melange de la masse chymeuse 

 avec le sue pancreatique, dont Prout ne connaissait pas la compo- 

 sition, et dans lequel nous avons trouve une grande quantite 

 d'albumine chez le chien, comme chez la brebis et le cheval." 

 When my paper was published in 1819, I did not know the 

 composition of the pancreatic juice, as was then stated, and I 

 regret that I do not know so much about it yet as I could wish, 

 I believe, however, that it contains albumen, and consequently 

 admit that some of the albumen found in the duodenum may be 

 derived from this source, though it is still my decided belief 

 that by far the greater proportion found there under the circum- 

 stances I have mentioned is derived from the food, and i$ 

 actually developed on the spot during the series of changes that 

 there take place, and in which the bile and pancreatic juice play 

 an important part. 



Notwithstanding these little inaccuracies, which were probably 

 mere oversights, 1 cannot close the present remarks without 

 expressing my high opinion of the value of MM. Tiedeman and 

 Gmelin's volume. Having gone over most of the ground tra- 

 versed by these gentlemen, 1 am well aware of the labour and 

 difficulty of the march ; and though we may differ in some 

 minor particulars, which is not to be wondered at, I am satisfied, 

 as far as we go together, with the general accuracy of their 

 observations. With respect to MM. Leuret and Lassaigne's 

 book, I am sorry that I cannot express the same sentiments ; 

 indeed as a work it does not appear to me to be at all compar- 

 able with that of the German philosophers. 



I am, Gentlemen, your most obedient servant, 



W. Pbout. 



