DIG EST 10 X 20 1 



probably the greater part of the food substance is acted upon in 

 the gastric compartments and stomach, leaving comparatively 

 little for the intestines to perform. 



In spite of the changes which occur in the stomach, it has been 

 proved by the experiments of Colin that no absorption occurs from 

 this organ in the horse. It would be useless to recapitulate all 

 his experiments ; they were generally performed with strychnine, 

 and he found that, so long as the pylorus was securely tied, no 

 symptoms of poisoning occurred when the alkaloid was intro- 

 duced into the stomach, no matter how long it was left there, 

 but that when the ligature was untied, and the contents of the 

 stomach passed into the intestines, poisoning rapidly followed. 

 These remarkable results were obtained by him so often, and 

 under such varying conditions, as to leave no doubt as to the 

 accuracy of the observations. Strychnine experiments are not 

 altogether free from objection, but as matters stand we can only 

 surmise that no absorption of sugar or peptones occurs in fne 

 stomach. It is certainly very remarkable what becomes of the 

 peptones ; the writer has never found any in the stomach con- 

 tents, no matter at what period of digestion the examination 

 was made, and if they are not absorbed in the stomach they 

 must pass very rapidly into the intestines and enter the vessels 

 at once, as no peptone can be found in the small intestines. 

 Colin attributes the absence of absorption from the stomach of 

 the horse to the small area of the mucous membrane, which, he 

 says, cannot be secreting gastric juice and absorbing at the 

 same time. In the empty stomach he attributes the non- 

 absorption of poisons to the thick layer of tenacious mucus which, 

 as we have previously mentioned, covers the villous stomach of 

 the horse. Colin's experiments also show that there is little or 

 no absorption from the abomasum of ruminants. On the other 

 hand, there is absorption from the stomach of the dog and pig. 

 Recent experiments on the dog show that absorption does not 

 take place readily from the stomach. Water taken alone is 

 practically not absorbed at all ; sugars and peptones are absorbed 

 only when in sufficient concentration, while fats are not absorbed. 



Self -Digestion of the Stomach. — A question which for a long 

 time gave rise to an energetic discussion was the reason why the 

 stomach during life does not digest itself, seeing that the action 

 of its secretion is so potent that portions of living material, legs 

 of frogs, ears of rabbits, etc., if introduced into it, are readily 

 digested, also that post-mortem digestion of the stomach in 

 some animals is far from rare. The walls of the stomach are 

 not singular in possessing a specific resistance to a digestive 

 fluid. The small intestine is immune to trypsin, which, if in- 



