112 THE PANCREATIC JUICE. 



THE PANCREATIC JUICE. 



Notwithstanding the careful analyses of Tiedemann and 

 Gmelin,* as well as those of Leuret and Lassaigne,f the pan- 

 creatic juice, until the last few years, has been one of the most 

 imperfectly understood of all the fluids of the animal body ; very 

 recently, however, several excellent works have appeared on the 

 chemical nature and the physiological function of this fluid. 

 Bernard, J Frerichs, and lastly Bidder and Schmidt, || have 

 obtained from their investigations results which, although not 

 entirely coincident, are so decisive and certain that the function of 

 the pancreas is now more clearly understood than even that of the 

 liver. 



The pancreatic juice is a colourless, clear, very slightly tenacious 

 fluid, devoid of taste and smell, having an alkaline reaction, and 

 a specific gravity ranging from 1*008 to 1*009 ; on heating it, there 

 is only an inconsiderable coagulum formed, and on the addition of 

 acids and alcohol, it only becomes slightly turbid. This secretion 

 is so prone to decomposition, that after exposure to the air for a 

 few hours, it developes a distinct odour of putrefaction. Frerichs 

 found 1*3 6-g- of solid constituents in the pancreatic juice of an ass, 

 and l-62 in that of a dog. 



We have here quoted the properties of this fluid as they have 

 been described by Frerichs, because we have ourselves obtained 

 similar results in an experiment made on a large mastiff ; moreover, 

 the description given by Leuret and Lassaigne agrees pretty closely 

 with the above. On the other hand, Bernard found this fluid very 

 viscid and tenacious, and so rich in acoagulable substance that, on 

 the application of heat, there was entire solidification much the 

 same as Tiedemann and Gmelin had formerly noticed ; and, in corre- 

 spondence with the above reaction, there werevery considerable pre- 

 cipitates thrown down by alcohol, acids, and metallic salts. According 

 to Bernard, the above described very thin pancreatic fluid is only 



* Verdauung nach Versuchen. Bd. 1, S. 28. 



f Recherches phys. et chim. pour servir a 1'histoire de la digestion. Paris, 

 1825, p. 104-108. 



t Arch. gen. de He'd. 4 Ser. T. 19, p. 68-87. 



Op. cit. pp. 842-849. 



II In a Private Communication. 



