DIGESTION AND ABSORPTION IN THE STOMACH. 781 



alcohol, etc., that have been swallowed— may occur. It was formerly 

 assumed, without definite proof, that the stomach absorbs easily 

 such things as water, salts, sugars, and peptones. Actual experi- 

 ments, however, made, under conditions as nearly normal as possible, 

 show, upon the whole, that absorption does not take place readily 

 in the stomach — certainly nothing like so easily as in the intestine. 

 The methods made use of in these experiments have varied, but the 

 most interesting results have been obtained by estabUshing a fistula 

 of the duodenum just beyond the pylorus.* After establishing this 

 fistula food may be given to the animal and the contents of the 

 stomach as they pass out through the pyloric opening may be 

 caught and examined. 



Water. — ^Experiments of the character just described show that 

 water when taken alone is practically not absorbed at all in the 

 stomach. Von Mering's experiments especially show that as soon 

 as water is introduced into the stomach it begins to pass into the 

 intestine, being forced out in a series of spurts by the contractions of 

 the stomach. Witliin a comparatively short time practically all 

 the water can be recovered in this way, none or very Uttle having 

 been absorbed in the stomach. For example, in a large dog with a 

 fistula in the duodenum, 500 c.c. of v/ater were given through the 

 mouth. Within twenty-five minutes 495 c.c. had been forced out of 

 the stomach through the duodenal fistula. This result is not 

 true for all Uquids; alcohol, for example, is absorbed readily. 



Salts. — ^The absorption of salts from the stomach has not been 

 investigated thoroughly. According to Brandl, sodium iodid ie 

 absorbed very slowly or not at all in cUlute solutions. Not until its 

 solutions reach a concentration of 3 per cent, or more does its absorp- 

 tion become important. This result, if applicable to all the soluble 

 inorganic salts, would indicate that under ordinary conditions they 

 are practically not absorbed in the stomach, since it can not be sup- 

 posed that they are normally swallowed in solutions so concentrated 

 as 3 per cent. In the same direction Meltzer reports that solutions 

 of strychnin are absorbed with difficulty from the stomach as com- 

 pared v^th the intestines, rectum, or even the pharynx. It is said 

 that the absorption of sodium iodid is very much facilitated by 

 the use of condhnents, such as mustard and pepper, or alcohol, 

 which act either by causing a greater congestion of the mucous 

 membrane or perhaps by directly stimulating the epithelial cells. 



Sugars and Peptones. — In regard to the sugars the experiments 

 of von Mering and Brandl indicate that while absorption takes 

 place it is not rapid nor marked unless the solutions are quite 



* Compare von Mering, "Verhandl. des Congresses f. innere Med.," 12, 

 471, 1893; Edkins. "Journal of Physiology," 13, 445, 1S92; Brandl, "Zeit- 

 schrift f. Biologie," 29, 277, 1892; London, "Zeitschrift f, physiol. Chemie," 

 62, 446. 1909. 



