GASTRIC JUICE. 27 



wasting, debility, &c., ensue, and death is the ultimate conse- 

 quence.] 



If the bilin becomes decomposed in the intestinal canal into 

 various constituents, through the influence of the acid chyme, 

 then a wide field of investigation is open to us respecting the 

 function of the biliary secretion in relation to chylification. 

 No explanation has yet been afforded of the discrepancy in the 

 amount of albumen contained in the chyme absorbed by the 

 intestinal villi, and in the chyle discharged by the absorbents, 

 (even without passing through the mesenteric glands.) May 

 it not happen that a constituent of the bile acts on some 

 hitherto ill-defined protein-compound of the chyme, and con- 

 verts it into the form known as uncoagulated albumen ? 



ON THE GASTRIC JUICE, DIGESTION, AND THE CHYME. 



Gastric Juice. 



The gastric juice has been examined by numerous chemists, 

 in consequence of the importance attributed to it in the process 

 of digestion. There have been found in it free acids, a con- 

 siderable amount of salts, and certain indefinite animal sub- 

 stances, which were known at the period to which we refer as 

 osmazome or salivary matter. Experiments on artificial diges- 

 tion have thrown much light on the nature of the gastric juice. 

 Eberle 1 proved that an artificially-formed gastric juice does not 

 thoroughly dissolve food, unless a small quantity of gastric 

 mucus, or a portion of the mucous membrane of the stomach 

 be added to it. On the strength of this discovery, Miiller and 

 Schwann 2 instituted a series of experiments, from which Schwann 

 was led to conclude that the gastric juice contains a peculiar 

 substance, which, cooperating with an acid, possesses the pro- 

 perty of rapidly dissolving substances insoluble in mere water, 

 or in a mixture of extractive matters, salts, and a little acid, as 

 for instance, fibrin, coagulated albumen or casein. To this 



1 Physiologic der Verdauung. Wiirzburg, 1834. 



2 Ueber die kiinstliche Verdauung des geronnenen Eiweisses, Muller's Archiv, 

 1836. 



