THE DISEASES OF CAITI E. 55 



same remark, informs us that this gaseous exhalation is even 

 more active than at the time of digestion. 



" It is generally believed that this fluid is of use in contin- 

 ually presei:ving the form and dimensions of the intestines. 

 If it be true that the body of the foetus prior to birth does not 

 admit any gas into the cells of its tissues, as M. de Blainville 

 has asserted, it is no less certain that we have witnessed in the 

 foetus of several animals, while as yet in utero, a certain quanti- 

 ty of gas within the intestines. And M. Baumes (in his Traite 

 des 3Ialadies Venteuses), assures us of having made the same 

 remark in the human foetus ; whence he concludes gases to be 

 a product of exhalation of the intestinal mucous membrane. 



" As to the gaseous fluids which find their way from without 

 into the gastro-intestinal passages, they necessarily derive their 

 source from the atmosphere, or from the food. It is evident 

 that every time men and animals eat and drink, they must take 

 into their alimentary canals a certain quantity of air mingled 

 with the saliva. It is likewise evident that the aliments them- 

 selves introduce into the same passages a certain quantity of at- 

 mospheric air, adhering to the particles of food, or penetrating 

 them while under mastication. Lastly, some aliments there ai-e 

 which contain by nature, within their interstices, aeriform fluids, 

 as the experiments of Gaspard show. These are especially 

 the vegetables belonging to the family legumina and crucifera, 

 recognized commonly as being of a ventose nature. 



" Aliments of this description introduced into the alimentary 

 canal, into the vast stomachs of ruminants, and the capacious 

 intestines of horses, give escape to such an abundance of gas 

 that, through their accumulation and their expansion from the 

 heat of the situation, they are capable even of occasioning 

 death from the impediment they cause to the respiratory and 

 circulatory functions. The presence of gas, and its accumula- 

 tion within the cavity of the uterus, in human medicine char- 

 acterized by the name of physometra, is most rare with domes- 

 tic females. The only cases in which we have been able to 

 trace the presence of gaseous fluid in this reservoir are those 

 named, mcd a propos, uterine dropsy. We know that in this 



