THE NEWTS STOMACH DURING DIGESTION 449 



becomes wider meshed and ragged looking as sécrétion proceeds and stains 

 with greater and greater difficulty. The cells however never diminish very 

 greatly in length as the other cells of the gland do and they consequently 

 appear by comparison larger than they really are when measured. Their 

 nuclei pass through the saine gamut of stages already describcd in the case 

 of the other cells of thèse glands. 



RÉSUMÉ AND CONCLUSIONS. 



In order that the chief points in this communication may be seen at a 

 glance I hâve deemed it advisable to record thcm in tabular form ; thèse 

 tables will be found at the end. 



As soon as the food is swallowed sécrétion commences in the oxyntic 

 glands of the stomach and sweeps in a slow wave along the whole organ, be- 

 ginning at the œsophageal opening and passing off at the pyloric end at such 

 a rate, that the cells near the pyloric extremity attain their maximum acti- 

 vity some one and a half or two hours after those near the œsophagus. 



For any one cell the wave reaches its maximum between the third and 

 fourth hour or hour and a half and is followed by a period of rest and récu- 

 pération which lasts for another four or five hours; after which if food is still 

 présent in the stomach the cell again enters upon a second secretory period 

 that follows the same course as the hrst. 



According to Langley and Langley and Seewall "" the cells continue 

 to secrète actively during the period of repair, statemcnt which they base 

 mainly on their expérimental researches on the quantity of digestive sub- 

 stances présent in the stomach and on the observation that in ail spécimens 

 examined by them many small zymogen granules are présent in the cells. 



I hâve not been able to convince myself of the accuracy of this state- 

 mcnt except in a modified form, because of the fact that the cells exhibit a 

 second period of' sécrétion and exhaustion after they hâve once regained 

 their resting condition. One would hâve expected complète recovery to be 

 delayed until the stomach had emptied itself of its contents were sécrétion 

 and repair going hand in hand. 



Further I believe that the small granules are in process of growth, 

 rather than in process of solution. I hâve also been unable to see any in- 

 crease of protoplasm during sécrétion though it does undoubtedly incrcasc 



