92 



CONTRIBUTION TO OUR KNOWLEDGE OF THE 

 PHYSIOLOGY OF THE PANCREAS. 



By H. G. Chapman, M.D., B.S. 



{From tlie FlnjsioJoijical Lahorafory of the University of Sydney). 



Preliminary Communication. 



Ilistoriccd. — Claude Bernard^ in 1848 obtained pancreatic 

 juice by inserting a silver canula into the larger pancreatic duct 

 in the dog through an incision in the h3'pochondrium. When 

 the canula was inserted almost immediately after a meal of meat 

 and water, the juice was found flowing along the duct, and was 

 collected from the canula. Inserted four hours after a meal, 

 juice flowed at a rate of two to three drops a minute from the 

 tube. In a dog starved for twenty-four hours no juice was 

 obtained from the duct, and onl}^ a ver}- few drops appeared in 

 the canula in a day. C. Bernard- also noted that the introduc- 

 tion of ether into the stomach produced soon after a flow of pan- 

 creatic juice. 



Heidenhein'"' investigated the relation of the secretion of the 

 juice to the entry of food into the stomach, and noted, inter cdia, 

 the increase that occurred three and seven hours after a meal. 



Dolinski^ studying the action of bodies j^i'omoting the flow of 

 pancreatic juice, noted that secretion was produced by the intro- 

 duction of acid into the duodenum. He thought also that the 

 acid of the chj^ne brought about its own neutralization b}^ induc- 

 ing a flow of alkaline pancreatic juice. Collating these results 

 with those of other pupils, Pawlow'' concluded that the acid was 

 the principal factor in chyme producing a reflex secretion of pan- 

 creatic juice. Pawlow had already shown the existence of fibres 

 in the vagus, stimulation of which was followed by a flow of the 



