412 



DIGESTION. 



In the large intestine, the constitution of the gases pre- 

 sented the same variability as in the small intestine. Car- 

 buretted hydrogen was found in all of the analyses. In the 

 large intestine of the first criminal, and in the rectum of the 

 third, were found traces of sulphuretted hydrogen. The fol- 

 lowing is the result of the analyses in the cases before cited. 

 In the third, the gaseous contents of the caecum and the rec- 

 tum were analyzed separately. 1 



Gases contained in the Large Intestine. 



Origin of the Intestinal Gases. With our present infor- 

 mation on this subject, the most reasonable view to take of 

 the source of the gases normally found in the intestines is 

 that they are given off from the articles of food in their 

 various stages of digestion and decomposition. That this is 

 the principal source of the intestinal gases there can be no 

 doubt ; and it is well known that certain articles of food, par- 

 ticularly vegetables, generate much more gas than others. 

 The principal gases found in the intestinal canal may all be 

 obtained from the food ; while some of them, as hydrogen 

 and carburetted hydrogen, do not exist in the blood ; and it 

 is difficult to conceive how they can be generated in the in- 



1 HAGENDIE, op. cit., p. 128. 



a In this examination, "traces of sulphuretted hydrogen were manifested upon 

 the mercury before the instant when the gas was analyzed ; " (op. cit, p. 129). 



