326 DIGESTION. 



end of the intestine, she soon improved in her nutrition, and 

 was then made the subject of extended and interesting ob- 

 servations upon intestinal digestion. 



With regard to the general properties of the intestinal 

 juice, the observations of Busch upon this case agree with 

 those of Bidder and Schmidt upon the lower animals. He 

 never, in the natural condition, found a large quantity of se- 

 cretion in the intestine. The fluid was white or of a pale 

 rose-color, consistent, and always strongly alkaline. The 

 maximum proportion of solid matter which it contained was 

 T'4: and the minimum 3'8T per cent. 1 The secretion could 

 not apparently be obtained in sufficient quantity for ultimate 

 analysis. 



!Nb better opportunity than this could be presented for 

 studying the intestinal juice in its pure state. The nature 

 of the case made it impossible that there should be any ad- 

 mixture of food, pancreatic juice, bile, or the secretion of the 

 duodenal glands ; and during the process of digestion, the 

 'lower part of the intestine undoubtedly produced a fluid of 

 perfectly normal character. "When we come to consider the 

 action of the intestinal juice upon the various articles of food, 

 our most reliable facts will be drawn from the observations 

 made upon this case. 



From what has been ascertained by experiments upon 

 the lower animals and observations on the human subject, 

 the intestinal juice has been shown to possess the following 

 characters : 



Its quantity in any portion of the mucous membrane 

 which can be examined is small ; but when the extent of the 

 canal is considered, it is evident that the entire quantity of 

 intestinal juice must be great, though beyond this, no reliable 

 estimate can be made. 



The intestinal juice is viscid, and has a tendency to ad- 



1 YIRCHOW'S Archiv, 1858,' S. 156. 



