APPLIED PHYSIOLOGY 



act as a reservoir, from which the intestine may be 

 gradually supplied ; (2) to sterilize the food to some 

 extent ; (3) to regulate its temperature ; (4) to help to 

 reduce the food to a fluid form ; (5) to aid in the stimu- 

 lation of pancreatic secretion. 



These may now be briefly considered. 



1. By acting 1 as a reservoir the stomach enables us 

 to take food in considerable quantities at a time i.e., it 

 renders meals possible. The practical convenience of 

 this does not need to be pointed out. The capacity of 

 the stomach varies considerably in different individuals 

 and in the same individual at different periods of life. 

 Koughly it may be put down in the case of liquids at 

 2 to 4 pints, and in the case of solids at about 2 pounds. 

 If it be remembered that the total amount of solid food 

 required daily amounts to about 3 pounds, it will be 

 evident that it is hardly possible to take all our food 

 at one meal without seriously overburdening the 

 stomach. Again, were it not for the reservoir action 

 of the stomach, there would tend to be a waste of food 

 by putrefaction, owing to the intestine being supplied 

 with it more rapidly than it could be digested and 

 absorbed. 



2. Another function which the stomach fulfils is that 

 of partially sterilizing 1 the food by the antiseptic action 

 of the hydrochloric acid of the gastric juice. This 

 action, however, is not a powerful one, and some organ- 

 isms, such as those that form acids, seem to escape it 

 altogether, and there is reason to believe that the same 

 is true of some, at least, of the commoner pathogenic 



