Chap.VL 



DIGESTION. 99 



interesting to observe how gradually they disappeared, 

 when the same fibre was traced into the surrounding 

 jluid. Thejf disappeared by the striae being replaced 

 by transverse lines formed of excessively minute dark 

 points, which towards the exterior could be seen only 

 under a very high power ; and ultimately these points 

 were lost. When I made these observations, I had 

 not read Schiff's account* of the digestion of meat 

 by gastric juice, and I did not understand the mean- 

 ing of the dark points. But this is explained in the 

 following statement, and we further see how closely 

 similar is the process of digestion by gastric juice and 

 by the secretion of Drosera. 



" On a dit que le sue gastrique faisait perdre a la fibre muscu- 

 laire ses stries transversales. Ainsi enoncee, cette proposition 

 pourrait donner lieu a une equivoque, car cequi se perd, ce n'est 

 que Vaspect exterieur de la striature et non les elements anato- 

 miques qui la composent. On sait que les stries qui donnent un 

 aspect si caracteristique a la fibre musculaire, sent le resultat do 

 la juxtaposition et du parallelisme des corpuscules elementau-es, 

 places, a distances egales, dans Tinterieur des fibrilles contigues. 

 Or, des que le tissu connectif qui relie entre elles les fibrilles 

 elementaires vient a se gonfler et a se dissoudre, et que les 

 fibrilles elles-memes se dissocient, ce parallelisme est detruit et 

 avec lui I'aspect, le phenomene optique des stries. Si, apres la 

 desagregation des fibres, on examine au microscope les fibrilles 

 elementaires, on distingue encore tres-nettement a leur interieur 

 les corpuscules, et on continue a les voir, de plus en plus pales, 

 jusqu'au moment oil les fibrilles elles-memes se liquefient et dis- 

 paraissent dans le sue gastrique. Ce qui constitue la striature, 

 a proprement parler, n'est done pas detruit, avant Ja Uque- 

 faction de la fibre cliarnue elle-meme." 



In the viscid fluid surrounding the central sphere of 

 undigested meat there were globules of fat and little 

 bits of fibro-elastic tissue ; neither of which were in 



* ' Le9ons phys. de la Digestion,* torn. ii. p. 145. 



