380 DIGESTION. 



There can be hardly any question that the normal move- 

 ments of the intestine are principally due to the impression 

 made upon the mucous membrane by the alimentary mat- 

 ters, to which is added, perhaps, the stimulant action of the 

 bile. It is difficult to determine with accuracy what part 

 the bile plays in the production of these movements, from 

 the fact that the normal action of the intestine is not easily 

 observed. In the case of intestinal fistula so often referred 

 to, when food was introduced into the lower end of the 

 canal, there was at first an abundant evacuation every twen- 

 ty-four hours ; but subsequently it became necessary to use 

 enemeta. As there T$as no communication between the 

 lower and the upper end of the intestine, this fact is evi- 

 dence that the peristaltic movements can take place with- 

 out the action of the bile. Experiments upon the inferior 

 animals concerning the influence of the bile upon the peri- 

 staltic movements are somewhat contradictory. When the 

 abdomen is opened during life, vigorous movements may 

 sometimes be excited by pressing bile into the intestine from 

 the gall-bladder ; and the same result is occasionally observed 

 when the bile is applied to the peritoneal surface in an ani- 

 mal recently killed. But the various experiments in which 

 the bile has been diverted from the intestine and discharged 

 by a fistula, taking the frequency of the alvine dejections as 

 a test, show that regular peristaltic movements may take 

 place without the intervention of the bile. 



The vigorous peristaltic movements which occur soon after 

 death have been explained in various ways. It has been 

 shown that these movements are not due to a lowering of the 

 in temperature, or to exposure of the intestines to the air. 

 The latter fact may be easily verified by killing a rabbit, 

 when vigorous movements may be seen through the thin ab- 

 dominal walls, even while the cavity is unopened. According 

 to Schiff, the only cause of these exaggerated movements is 

 diminution or arrest of the circulation. This physiologist, by 

 compressing the abdominal aorta in a living animal, was able 



