DISEASED DIGESTION. 41 



compounds of carbon and hydrogen ; and since the absorbents 

 of the lymphatic system in the small intestines must have taken 

 up a very albuminous chyle, the chyme examined by Gmelin 

 may on that account have been poor in coagulable albumen, 

 and in the same manner the gradual decrease of the albumen 

 in the chyle, as the large intestine was approached, would be 

 accounted for. 



Diseased digestion. 



It is by no means rare to meet with an excessive formation 

 of acid both in the stomach and the intestines, especially in 

 children. Acid eructations, a sour smell from the mouth, and 

 frequent green stools, afford indications of a morbid digestion 

 which, doubtless, originates in too acid a condition of the gastric 

 and intestinal fluids, and on the consequent rapid production 

 of lactic and acetic acids from vegetables and milk. I have 

 observed that the faeces of a child at the breast, suffering from 

 improper digestion, consisted of a large quantity of coagulated 

 casein, and a very acid, greenish, whey-like fluid, with nume- 

 rous oil- vesicles on its surface. The fat was isolated and con- 

 tained a large amount of the fatty acids. 



A copious secretion of gas is a frequent consequence of dis- 

 eased digestion. This gas is not a mere mixture of carbonic 

 acid and nitrogen with a little hydrogen (the ordinary gases) 

 but also contains a considerable amount of sulphuretted hydro- 

 gen, and, in all probability, phosphoretted hydrogen and car- 

 buretted hydrogen. 



There can be no doubt that there are anomalies in the pro- 

 cess of chylification, in consequence of which an unsuitable 

 chyle is prepared and conveyed to the blood, modified both in 

 its quality and its quantity ; but with respect to the particulars 

 of these anomalies we are still perfectly in the dark. 



