PROTEIN DIGESTION IN THE STOMACH 15 



intensity of the digestive process. 35 Then, too, there exist 

 very suggestive observations indicative of the impossibility 

 of obtaining by distillation free hydrochloric acid from gas- 

 tric juice during active digestion. 36 In contradistinction to 

 this idea there are, of course, other authors who insist that 

 the presence of free hydrochloric acid is absolutely essential 

 for thorough utilization of the food. 37 



Extent of Protein Digestion in the Stomach. Let us 

 now turn to the question as to the extent to which pro- 

 tein digestion actually takes place in the stomach and the 

 catabolic products which are normally produced there. This 

 subject has been so well worked out that the actual facts of 

 the matter can be stated very briefly, even though the litera- 

 ture thereupon is extensive. 38 This is due primarily to the 

 labors of Edgard Zunz, of Brussels, 39 conducted by him with 

 much success through a long series of years, and also to the 

 united work of London and Abderhalden 40 and their numer- 

 ous collaborators, their studies combining happily the most 

 advanced ideas of a finished fistula-technique with those of 

 the chemistry of proteins. 



"The coagulated proteins of meat," to quote E. Zunz, 

 writing about ten years ago, 41 "are in turn dissolved in the 



35 J. Schiitz, Wiener med. Wochenschr., 1906, Nos. 41 and 42; Biochem. 

 Zeitschr., 22, 33, 1909; Arch. f. Verdauungskr., 17, 11, 1911; note Literature 

 in latter article; cf., also, H. Jastrowitz (Siegfried's Lab.), Biochem. Zeitschr., 

 2, 157. 1906. 



36 F. Landolph, Nouvelles Etudes chimiques sur le sue gastrique : Buenos 

 Aires, 1911; Zentralbl. f. Physiol., 25, 539, 1911. 



91 Cf. G. Ewald (Med. Clinic, Erlangen), Deutsche Arch. f. klin. Med., 

 106, 498, 1912. 



38 Literature upon the extent of gastric digestion: E. Zunz, Ergebn. d. 

 Physiol., 5, 622-663, 1906; E. S. London, Handb. d. Biochemie, 3", 68-80, 1909. 



39 E. Zunz, 1. c. and Bulletin de la Soci6t6 roy. des Sciences med. et natur. 

 de Bruxelles, 1910, No. 3 ; MSmoires couronne"s et autres me'moires publics par 

 1'Acad. roy. de mSd. de Belgique, 19, 3, 1906; 20, I, 1908; Bull, de 1'Acad. roy. 

 de meU de Belgique, 24, 241, 1910; abstracted in Jahresb. f. Tierchem., 40, 371. 



40 E. Abderhalden and E. S. London, together with K. Kautsch, L. Baumann, 

 0. Prym, K. v. Korosy, C. Vogtlin, Zeitschr. f. physiol. Chem., J t 8, 549, 1906; 

 51, 383, 1907; 53, 147, 343, 1907. 



* E. Zunz, Hofmeister's Beitr., 3, 339, 1902. 



