FERMENTATION IN THE STOMACH. 461 



acid fermentation lies at 1.2 p. m. hydrochloric acid united to organic 

 bodies. The hydrochloric acid of the gastric juice has unquestionably 

 an antifermentative action, and also, like all dilute mineral acids, an 

 antiseptic action. This action is of importance, as many pathogenic 

 micro-organisms may be destroyed by the gastric juice. The common 

 bacillus of cholera, certain streptococci, etc., are killed by the gastric 

 juice, while others, especially as spores, are unacted upon. The fact 

 that gastric juice can diminish or retard the action of certain toxalbumins, 

 such as tetanotoxine and diphtheria toxine, is also of great interest 

 (XENCKI, SIEBER, and ScHouMowA 1 ). 



Because of this antifermentative and antitoxic action of gastric 

 juice it is considered that the chief importance of the gastric juice lies 

 in its antiseptic action. The fact that intestinal putrefaction is not 

 increased on the extirpation of the stomach, as derived from experiments 

 made on man and animal, 2 does not uphold this view. 



Since the hydrochloric acid of the gastric juice prevents the con- 

 tents of the stomach from fermenting, with the generation of gas, those 

 gases which occur in the stomach probably depend, at least in great measure, 

 upon the swallowed air and saliva, and upon those gases generated in the 

 intestine and returned through the pyloric valve. PLANER found in 

 the stomach-gases of a dog 66-68 per cent N, 23-33 per cent CO 2 , and 

 only a small quantity, 0.8-6.1 per cent, of oxygen. ScniERBECK 3 has 

 shown that a part of the carbon dioxide is formed by the mucous mem- 

 brane of the stomach. The tension of the carbon dioxide in the stomach 

 corresponds, according to him, to 30-40 mm. Hg in the fasting condi- 

 tion. It increases after partaking food, independently of the kind of 

 food, and may rise to 130-140 mm. Hg during digestion. The curve 

 of the carbon-dioxide tension in the stomach is the same as the curve 

 of acidity in the different phases of digestion, and SCHIERBECK also 

 found that the carbon-dioxide tension is considerably increased by pilo- 

 carpine, but diminished by nicotine. According to him, the carbon 

 dioxide of the stomach is a product of the activity of the secretory cells. 



After death, if the stomach still contains food, autodigestion goes 

 on not only in the stomach, but also in the neighboring organs, during 

 the slow cooling of the body. This leads to the question, Why does the 

 stomach not digest itself during life? Ever since PAVY has shown that 



1 Cohn, Zeitschr. f. physiol. Chem., 14; Strauss and Bialocour, Zeitschr. f. klin. 

 Med., 28. See also Kiihne, Lehrb., 57; Bunge, Lehrb. d. Physiol., 4. Aufl., 148 and 

 159; Hirschfeld, Pfluger's Arch., 47; Nencki, Sieber, and Schoumowa, Centralbl. f. 

 Bacteriol., etc., 23 In regard to the action of gastric juice upon pathogenic microbes 

 we must refer the reader to handbooks of bacteriology. 



2 See Carvallo and Pachon, 1. c., and Schlatter in Wroblewski, 1. c. 



3 Planer, Wien. Sitzungsber., 42; Schierbeck, Skand. Arch. f. Physiol., 3 and 5. 



