194 PHYSIOLOGY OF ALIMENTATION. 



different conditions of diet, etc. To do this the animal is 

 fed in the ordinary way, and the secretion which pours out of 

 the miniature stomach is collected, measured, and used for 

 analysis. It was pointed out above that the secretions of 

 this small stomach are identical with those of the large. 



The following table indicates how the digestive power of 

 the gastric juice varies during the period of digestion, after a 

 single feeding of 400 gms. of meat. 1 The cause of these 

 variations is not entirely clear, in fact their very existence 

 is questioned by some observers. The digestive power is 

 expressed in terms of millimeters of coagulated egg-albumin 

 digested out of capillary tubes in the unit of time. (METT'S 

 method of determining proteolysis quantitatively.) 2 



Hour after feeding. Mm. of egg-albumin digested. 



1 



2 

 3 

 4 

 5 

 6 

 7 

 8 



These figures are plotted in the form of curves in the follow- 

 ing illustration (Fig. 22). 



The digestive power of the gastric juice, which PAWLOW and 

 his pupils look upon as an expression solely of the amount of 

 ferment (this is certainly erroneous) contained in the juice, 

 does not vary with the amount of juice secreted in the unit 

 of time* A strong digestive power may be found, not only 

 when the secretion is scanty but also when it is copious. 



So far as the inorganic constituents of the gastric juice are 

 concerned, PAWLOW believes that the concentration of hydro- 



1 LOBASSOFF: PAWLOW'S Work of the Digestive Glands. Translated 

 by THOMPSON, London, 1902, p. 29. 



2 See p. 130. 



