DIGESTION AND ABSORPTION IN THE INTESTINES. 731 



under these conditions is very fine and quite permanent, and it was 

 formerly believed that the formation of this emulsion is the main 

 function of the pancreatic juice so far as fats are concerned. It was 

 thought that in the form of fine droplets the fat may be taken up 

 directly by the epithelial cells of the villi, and this view was supported 

 by the histological fact that during the digestion of fats the epithelial 

 cells may be shown to contain fine oil drops in their interior. The 

 tendency of recent work, however, has been to indicate that the fats 

 are completely split into fatty acids and glycerin before absorption, 

 and that the emulsification may be regarded, from a physiological 

 standpoint, as a mechanical preparation for the action of the lipase 

 rather than as a direct preparation for the act of absorption. The 

 two products of the action of the lipase, the glycerin and the fatty 

 acid, are absorbed by the epithelium and again combined to form 

 neutral fat. In connection with this fact of a synthesis of the split 

 products to form neutral fat, the discovery by Kastle and Loeven- 

 hart (see p. 681) that the action of lipase is reversible assumes much 

 significance. It seems quite possible that the same enzyme may 

 cause both the splitting of the fat and the synthesis of the split 

 products, not only in the intestine during absorption, but in the 

 various tissues during the metabolism or the storage of fat. Lipase 

 is found in the blood and in many tissues, muscle, liver, mammary 

 gland,* etc., and during its nutritive history in the body the fat may 

 be split and synthesized a number of times. In this connection it is 

 interesting to note that the process of splitting does not involve much 

 work. Very little heat is liberated in the process, and a corre- 

 spondingly small amount of energy is needed for the synthesis. f 



The lipase as formed in the pancreas is easily destroyed, especially 

 by acids. For this reason probably it is not found usually in simple 

 extracts of the gland made by laboratory methods. It should be 

 added, also, that the action of this enzyme is aided very materially 

 by the presence of bile. This latter secretion contains no lipase 

 itself, but mixtures of bile and pancreatic juice split the neutral 

 fats much more rapidly than the pancreatic juice alone. 



The Intestinal Secretion (Succus Entericus). The small 

 intestine is lined with tubular glands, the crypts of Lieberkiihn, 

 which in parts of the intestine at least give rise to a liquid secretion, 

 the so-called intestinal juice. To obtain this secretion recourse has 

 been had to the operation known as the Thiry-Vella fistula. In this 

 operation a given portion of the intestine is separated from the 

 remainder without injuring its blood-vessels or nerves and the two 

 ends are sutured into the abdominal wall. In the loop thus isolated 

 the secretions may be collected and experiments may be made upon 



* See Loevenhart, " Amer. Journal of Physiology," 6, 331, 1902. 



f Consult Herzog, " Zeitschrift f . physiol. Chemie, " 37, 383, 1903. 



