354 THE TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 



INDIGESTION, OR DYSPEPSIA. 



Indigestion is the prevailing and fashionable malady of civilised life. The 

 doctor is more frequently consulted about disorders of digestion, and those connected 

 with eating and drinking, than about any others. 



Rightly to understand that condition which we call dyspepsia, it is necessary 

 to have some acquaintance, however rudimentary, with the physiology of digestion. 

 In the natural process of digestion the food is first masticated and mixed with 

 .saliva, and then swallowed. In the stomach it is moved about by a kind of 

 revolving or churning action, and is acted on by the gastric juice, which reduces 

 it to a semi-fluid consistence, and converts it into a uniform pulp known as 

 "chyme." It then passes into the intestines, where it is mixed with bile, and 

 with the pancreatic juice, which is secreted by the pancreas, or sweetbread, 

 and closely resembles saliva. The nutritive portion of the food is now taken up 

 by the veins and other vessels, and is by them carried into the blood, whilst the 

 excrement itious part, which is useless for the purposes of nutrition, is conveyed 

 out of the body. The gastric juice is a secretion poured out by and peculiar 

 to the stomach. It is an acid fluid, and to its acid, combined with a substance 

 known as "pepsine," it owes its solvent or digestive properties. The readiness 

 with which the gastric juice acts* on different articles of food is in a great 

 measure determined by their tenderness and state of division. By minute 

 division of the food, the extent of surface with which the digestive fluid can 

 come in contact is increased, and its action proportionately accelerated. A weak, 

 dyspeptic stomach acts slowly, or not at all, on solid lumps or tough masses 

 of food. A knowledge of this fact affords an explanation of one of the commonest 

 causes of dyspepsia, and at the same time suggests the appropriate mode of 

 treatment. Persons who are subject to dyspepsia should never eat in a hurry, 

 as busy men and those of studious and solitary habits often do. They should 

 be cautioned not to "bolt" their food, which should be well ground in the 

 mill of Nature's own providing. It has been supposed, and the supposition 

 appears feasible, that the increased longevity of modern generations is in 

 some degree attributable to the capability of chewing their food which the 

 skill of the dentist prolongs to persons advanced in life. Tender and moist 

 su 1 stances offer less resistance to the action of the gastric juice than do tough, 

 hard, and dry ones, for they are thoroughly penetrated by it, and are thus attacked 

 not only on the surface, but at every part at once. The readiness with which a 

 substance is acted on by the gastric juice is, however, no indication of its nutritive 

 value, for a substance may be nutritious, and yet, 011 account of its toughness 

 and other qualities, hard to digest, and many soft, easily-digestible bodies contain 

 comparatively little nutriment. It is obvious, however, that a substance which 

 the stomach cannot digest is incapable of nourishing the body, and there is there- 

 fore, so far, a necessary connection between the digestibility of a substance and 

 its power of nourishing. 



These are not mere matters of speculation, but of actual observation. Some 

 years ago an American physician, Dr. Beaumont, was afforded the singular privilege 



