CHARACTERS OP THE INTESTINAL JUICE. 



369 



II. The Secretion of Lieberkuhn's glands is, from the duodenum 

 onwards, the chief constituent of the intestinal juice. 



Intestinal Fistula. The intestinal juice is obtained by making a Thiry's 

 fistula (1864). A loop of the intestine of a 

 dog is pulled forward, and a piece about 

 four inches in length is cut out, so that 

 the continuity of the intestinal tube is broken, 

 but the mesentery and its blood-vessels are not 

 divided. One end of this tube is closed, and 

 the other end is left open and stitched to the 

 abdominal wall. After the two ends of the 

 intestine, from which this piece was taken, have 

 been carefully brought together with sutures, 

 so as to establish the continuity of the intestinal 

 canal, animals still continue to live. The excised 

 piece of intestine yields a secretion which 

 is uncontaminated with any other digestive 

 secretion. 



[Thiry's method is very unsatisfactory, as 

 judged from the action of the separated loop in 

 relation to medicaments, probably owing to 

 its mucous membrane becoming atrophied 

 from disuse, or injured by inflammation. 

 Meade Smith has lately used a better method, 

 in which he makes a small opening in the 

 intestine, through which he introduces two 

 small hollow and collapsed india-rubber balls, 

 one above and the other below the opening, 

 which are then distended by inflation until they 

 completely block a certain length of the 

 intestine. The loop thus blocked off having 

 been previously well washed out, is allowed to 

 become filled with succus, which is secreted on 

 the application of various stimuli. By means of 

 Bernard's gastric cannula (p. 330) inserted into 

 the fistula in the loop, the secretion can be 

 removed when desired.] 



Fig. 146. 



Lieberkuhn's Gland, from the 

 large intestine of a dog. 



The intestinal juice of such fistulse flows spontaneously in very 

 small amount, and is increased during digestion; it is increased 

 especially its mucus by mechanical, chemical, and electrical stimuli; 

 at the same time, the mucous membrane becomes red, so that 100 CD 

 centimetres yields 13 to 18 grammes of this juice in an hour (Thiry, 

 Masloff). 



Characters. The juice is light yellow, opalescent, thin, strongly 

 alkaline, specific gravity 1011, evolves C0 2 when an acid is adcled; 

 it contains albumin and ferments ; mucin occurs in the juice of the 

 large intestine. Its composition is proteids = 0*80 p.c.; other organic 

 substances = 07 3 p.c.; salts, 0'88 p.c.; amongst these sodium car- 

 bonate, 0-32-0-34 p.c.; water, 97'59 p.c. 



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