420 ABSORPTION. 



Coates, was appointed by the Academy of Medicine, of Phil- 

 adelphia, to examine into the subject. This committee made 

 a great number of experiments, which entirely confirmed the 

 observations of Magendie. 1 The same may be said of the 

 experiments of Panizza, which were, indeed, as regards in- 

 testinal absorption, little -more than a' repetition of those of 

 Magendie and Segal as. 2 At the present day there is no dif- 

 ference of opinion among physiologists concerning the direct 

 absorption of nutritive matters by the blood-vessels of the 

 alimentary canal. It has been repeatedly shown, indeed, 

 that during absorption, the blood of the portal vein is rich in 

 albuminoids, sugar, and other principles resulting from 

 digestion. 



In the mouth and oesophagus, the sojourn of alimentary 

 principles is so brief, and the changes which they undergo so 

 slight, that no absorption of any moment can take place. It 

 is evident, however, that the mucous membrane of the mouth 

 is capable of absorbing certain soluble matters, from the effects 

 which are constantly observed when the smoke or the juice 

 of tobacco is retained in the mouth even for a short time. 

 In the stomach, however, the absorption of certain materials 

 takes place with great activity. A large proportion of the in- 

 gested liquids, 3 and of those principles of food which are dis- 



1 Report of the Committee of the Academy of Medicine of Philadelphia, on 

 the means by which Absorption is effected. Philadelphia Journal of the Medical 

 and Physical Sciences, 1821, vol. iii., p. 273, and 1822, vol. v., p. 327. 



2 PANIZZA, De V Absorption Veineuse, Paris, 1843. The most striking of the 

 experiments of Panizza was one made on a horse, in which a loop of the small 

 intestine was drawn out, isolated by ligatures, and left connected with the sys- 

 tem only by a single artery and vein. Poisons and other substances introduced 

 into this loop were detected in blood taken from the vein, and their effects upon 

 the system were not manifested so long as the blood coming from the part was 

 prevented from entering the general circulation. (Op. cit., p. 19.) 



8 It has been repeatedly demonstrated by experiments that liquids are ab- 

 sorbed from the stomach after the pylorus has been tied. This has been done 

 by Magendie '(Precis Elemcntaire de Physiologic, Paris, 1836, tome ii., p. 140), 

 by Bouchardat and Sandras, and others. The experiments made by Colin 

 and Bouley on absorption from the stomach after ligation of the pylorus in 



