■FOODS- — HITMAN NUTRITION. 963 



The secrotion of .mistric juii'c. llic author concliKlos. is l)r()nslit jiliuut liy 

 lisycliic stiniulatinii as well as by tlic adioii (Hi tho imicoiis iiicinhraiic of tlic 

 stomach and intcstint" of a miiiihcr of chciuical siihstaiKvs. In j,'cncfal, fat 

 hindered the sccivtion of j^astric Juico. Water, aleuliol, dijj;<'stiou products 

 of protein, and meat extract caused an abundant secretion. Hydrochloric 

 acid, having a strength of 0.1 to O.'i per cent and normal gastric juice 

 l)u1ii affected the secretion very little. On the other lian<l. ().~> per cent solu- 

 tions of lactic acid and butyric acid produced an al)uudaut secretion, and 

 couiiuon salt and bicarbonate of soda caused secretions dependent upon the 

 concentration of the solution used. Saliva and gall stimulated secretion in 

 .about the same degree as wiiter. (iall, however, i)recipitated pepsin and so 

 stopped digestion. 



Xatur.al digestion, it was found, takes place more rapidly and completely than 

 artitici.-il digestion, jiiirtly because the freshly secreted gastric juice comes into 

 more iutimati' contact with the i)r<)teid material owing to stomach movements 

 than is the case in vitro, and partly because the products of digestifm are 

 removed from the stcmiach so(m after they are formed. 



otiiei- <iuestions were also considered. An extended biidiography is :ipi»ended 

 1o the report. 



Investigations on the effect of conimon salt on the chlorin content of 

 gastric juice, .1. Wohlgemuth (.\rl>. Path. Inst. Berlin, J9()(l, p. ')l)l : uhti. in 

 Ccntbl. Med. IV'/.s-.s'., 1907, \o. J, p. ■7). — The experiments rejjorted were made 

 with a dog having a so-called I'awlow small stomach. 



The chlorin content of the food was found to have a marked effect upon the 

 stomach secretion dei)endent in considerable measure upon the character of the 

 material fed. In general, it may be said that the normal stomach nmcous mem- 

 i'rane endeavors to keep the concentration of the gastric juice constrained 

 within narrow limits and to so regulate the hydrochloric-acid content that it 

 shall not become too high nor too low. 



On the effect of bile upon the hydrolysis of esters by pancreatic jUice, 

 A. S. LoEVENHAKT and ('. (i. SouDER {.lour. Jiidl. Clion., 2 (19li7), Vo. '>. pp. 'il.')- 

 -'i2-')). — Among the conclusions which were drawn from the artificial digestion 

 experiments made with ox gall were the following : 



"Bile salts, lecithin, and bile greatly accelerate the action of pancreatic juice 

 on all of the esters studied, including olive oil. 



" The optimum concentration for the bile salts when the lower esters are 

 used is about O.I per cent, while for olive oil the optimum is from 2 to 4 per 

 cent. In the latter concentration tlie bile salts greatly inhibit the action on 

 triacetin, and the acceleration of the hydrolysis of eth.vl butyrate is much less 

 than when they are employed in greater dilution. 



"Different si)ecimens of juice and ditferent exiieriment.-il conditions altered 

 greatly the degree of acceleration observed and the relative activity of the bile 

 salts and lecithin. 



"We advance no theory to account for the acceleration noted with these sub- 

 stances. While we lielieve that their action depends to a certain extent on their 

 solvent .action, it seems that in ad<lition to this they accelerate the action of 

 I lie enzym in some other way." 



Synthesis of food protein in the liver, E. Fbeund and G. Toepfer (Ztschr. 

 i:.ipt. Path. i(. Thcr., 3 (1906), No. S, pp. 633-6S7 ) .^The investigations reiiorted 

 led to the conclusion that synthesis of i)rotein talces place in the liver and that 

 an abundant supply of blood through the portal vein is a necessary condition 

 to its formation. 



