INTESTINAL JUICE. 327 



here to the mucous membrane. It is generally either color- 

 less or of a faint rose tint, and its reaction is invariably al- 

 kaline. 



With regard to the composition of the intestinal juice, 

 little of a definite character has been learned. All that can 

 be said is that its solid constituents exist in the proportion 

 of about 5*4:7 parts per hundred. 1 In most analyses of fluids 

 from the intestine, there is reason to believe that the normal 

 intestinal juice was not obtained. 2 



The organs which secrete the fluid known as the intes- 

 tinal juice are the follicles of Lieberkuhn, the glands of 

 Brunn, the solitary follicles, and the patches of Peyer. The 

 fluid, however, is chiefly secreted by the follicles of Lieber- 

 kuhn, which, as we have seen, exist in the mucous mem- 

 brane of the intestine in immense numbers. Though the 

 other organs mentioned do not contribute much to the secre- 

 tion, they produce a certain quantity of fluid; and the intes- 

 tinal juice must be regarded as a compound fluid, like the 

 saliva, and not the product of a single variety of glands, like 

 the gastric juice. 



Action of the Intestinal Juice in Digestion. 



The physiological action of the intestinal juice has been 

 closely studied in the inferior animals by Frerichs and Bid- 

 der and Schmidt ; but their experiments have been some- 



1 BUSCH, loc. cit. 



2 Colin (op. cit., tome i., p. 649) gives the following analysis by Lassaigne of 

 intestinal fluid taken from the horse. The mode in which this fluid was obtained 

 by Colin has already been referred to. The fluid was collected in large quantity, 

 and it seems probable, especially since the observations of Busch, that it \vas not 

 the normal intestinal juice. Its specific gravity was 1,010 at 60 Fahr. 



Water ' . 98-10 



Albumen 0*45 



Chloride of sodium ~\ 



" " potassium I 1>46 



Phosphate of soda 



Carbonate of soda 100 '00 



