706 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



imicli ^TtatiT than tliis ratio wmilil iiidiratf, for the fundus contains after an ordi- 

 nary meal al)oat live times as mncli food as the pyloric portion. After an hour the 

 ratio of the sii<rar percentages in the 2 parts of the stomach l)egins to ajjproximate 

 unity again. This change is pro])ably due largely to diffusion of sugar from the 

 fundus into the jjyloric end, and to some extent to absorption. The diffusion of the 

 sugar does not to a marked degree remove the ptyalin from the food. . . . 



" When li(juid food is given, when small amounts of food are given, and when the 

 stomach is massaged, sugar percentages in the 2 parts of the stomach are nearly the 

 same. 



"Mixing prott'id with carbohydrate food protects the ptyalin from the action of 

 free hydrochl(iric acid in the relatively small pyloric part of the stomach and on the 

 surface of the cardiac contents. The greater mass of the food, lying in the fundus, 

 undergoes uninterrupted amylolysis, not because the proteid protects the i)tyalin, 

 but because the food in this region is not mixed with the gastric juice. 



".Much of the starch not changed to sugar is changed to dextrin, and tlius, since 

 dextrin is not readily fermented, the food is saved to the organism. The esijecial 

 value of this jjrocess lies in the fact that it occurs to the greatest degree in the fundus, 

 in which region the hydrochloric acid, inhibiting the action of many of the organized 

 ferments, does not for some time make its appearance. 



"In the early stages of gastric digestion, if food has been properly masticated, the 

 fundus serves chiefly for the action of the ptyalin; the pyloric portion, after a brief 

 stage of salivary digestion, is thereafter the seat of strictly peptic changes. Later, 

 after 2 hours or more, as the contents of the fundus become acid, the food in the 

 stomach as a wliole is su])jected to the action of proteolytic fermentation." 



Oxidations in the animal org-anism, E. Enriguez and J. A. Sicard {Les oxyda- 

 tions de Vorganisme. Park: J. B. Bailliere & Sons, 1902, pp. 87). — The nature and 

 function of oxidizing ferments, particularly those found in the animal body are dis- 

 cussed and the author's experiments and those of other investigators are summarized. 

 A bibliography of the suljject is appended. 



The sugar - forming ferment of the liver, L. Borch.^rdt (ArrJi. PJnjsiol. 

 \_Pfliigc)'~\, 100 {1903), Xo. 3-6, ])p. 259-297). — Experiments, which are reported in 

 detail, led to the conclusion that as regards kind of action and the products formed 

 there is no appreciable difference between the ferment in the l)lood, which cleaves 

 glycogen, starch, and maltose, and that in the liver. The effects of both alcohol and 

 heat on the 2 ferments are also very similar. The ferment found in the liver is much 

 more active than that found in the blood. 



The eflfect of lecithin on the growth of the white rat, S. Hatai {Amer. Jour. 

 PlnjsioL, 10 {1903), No. 1, pp. .57-66, Jig. i).— The effects of lecithin on the amount 

 and character of body growth were studied in experiments with white rats. Those 

 which received the lecithin either by injection or by feeding, according to the author, 

 gained on an average 60 per cent more than those receiving none, the gain being 

 accomplished more rapidly. The central nervous system and the peripheral nerves 

 of the rats fed lecithin were found to be normal. The rats which had been fed 

 lecithin, in the author's opinion, showed the greater power of resistance to unfavor- 

 able changes in their surroundings and his experiments are thought by him to 

 confirm those of earlier investigators who claim "the physiological effect of the 

 lecithin to be that of a stimulating agent for normal growth." 



ANIMAL PRODUCTION. 



Commercial feeding stuffs, H. J. Wheeler, A. W. Bosworth, and J. W. Kel- 



LO(;(; {Rliixli' Jdniid Stu. Bui. 94, pp. 1,51-171, figs. 6) .—In compliance with the State 

 feeding-stuff law, 153 samples were collected and examined, including cotton-seed 

 meal; linseed or flax meal; gluten meal and feed; distillers' grains; brewers' grains; 

 wheat bran middlings and mixed feed; corn meal; peanut meal; rice meal; hominy 



