34 PROPERTIES OF MATTER 



power of the gastric juice, which is secreted 

 from the surface of the stomach, is admitted by 

 physiologists in general ; a great diversity of 

 opinion, however, exists in respect to the mode 

 of its operation; by a few, very few indeed, it 

 is concluded, that it is performed by a living 

 power, resident in this fluid ; by the generality 

 of others, that it is the consequence of a che-i 

 mical, not a living, power. If it be by a che- 

 mical power, we ought, by analogy, to expect 

 that its chemical properties, by analysis, would 

 be detected ; that it ought to possess some 

 sensible properties ; that it is either acid, or 

 alkalescent ; so far, however, from possessing 

 sensible, or chemical, properties adequate to 

 account for the extraordinary power which it 

 possesses, --it appears, upon a close examina- 

 tion, to be a mere mucous fluid, inodorous and 

 insipid, neither acid nor alkalescent, nei- 

 ther turning vegetable blues to a green, or to a 

 red color: and, by chemical analysis, it 

 yields neither saline, nor mineral substances. 

 It is, therefore, I contend, impossible to refer 

 the action of the gastric juice to any chemical 

 power which it is pretended to possess ; but, 

 that it is far more reasonable to conclude that its 

 activity is, altogether, derived from the energy 

 of the living power which is supfradded to it, 

 whose edge is sharper than that of the keenest 

 knife, whose solvent property is more active 



