326 DIET FOR DYSPEPSIA. 



These different forms of indigestion occasion imperfect chymi- 

 fication (the transformation of food into chyme), or afford opportu- 

 nity for fermertation of the food; for when the vital functions are 

 in abeyance, chemical affinities assert their force and produce 

 morbid changes. Hence arise the various symptoms of dyspepsia. 



Then duodenal indigestion, due to derangement of the small 

 intestine, occasions imperfect chylification (the transformation of 

 chyme into chyle). 



The various unnatural conditions thus included under the 

 common term dyspepsia, or indigestion, obviously require different 

 medicinal and dietetic treatment. This is also manifest from a con- 

 sideration of the dietetic errors which are generally the proximate 

 causes of indigestion. 



Overloading the Stomach May occur in three ways 

 by excessive quantity, excessive variety, and different digesti- 

 bility of food. The quantity may be so large that it may be 

 difficult for the stomach to deal with it ; the variety may be so great 

 that what should be digested in the small intestine impedes the 

 action of the gastric juice on that which it is specially designed to 

 solve; and the digestibility of different foods may be sucn that, 

 after the more digestible food has passed out, some remains in the 

 stomach, an incubus upon its exhausted powers. With reference to 

 these cases it should be remembered that the quantity of gastric 

 juice secreted is limited and only suffices for the digestion of a 

 moderate quantity of food; that different kinds of food nitrogen- 

 ous, starchy and oleaginous require the exercise of different diges- 

 tive functions; and that different articles also require different 

 periods of time for their digestion, some being liquefied in an hour 

 and a half, others requiring six or more hours before they are fit 

 for assimilation. The capacity of the stomach is not unlimited, 

 either in size or in function; hence it may be easily overloaded and 

 its powers so impeded as to cause indigestion. For as soon as the 

 bulk of a meal is digested, it begins at once to pass out of the 

 stomach into the intestine, the other articles going with it whether 

 digested or not; it is therefore obvious that if two descriptions of 

 food are eaten at one time, a portion of the less digestible will pass 

 along with the other into the small intestines and produce disten- 

 tion, irritation and other inconveniences. Nothing is more common, 

 for instance, than for well-to-do persons to eat a hearty meal of fish, 

 flesh, game and pastry, to finish off with raw salad, dressed with 

 oil and eaten with cheese, to say nothing of dessert consisting oT 

 dried fruits, almonds and nuts, washed down with sips of different 

 wines. In such a case easily digested and indigestible articles 

 mingled together, overload the stomach, and half-digested materials 

 pass out with the principal portion of the meal, causing disorders 

 which involve discomfort, if not injury. Indeed, it may be 

 remarked once for all, that though the human stomach is wonder- 

 fully accommodating, retribution is sure to come at last, though 



