June 11, 1897.] 



SCIENCE. 



901 



urine iu the average proportion of 3.75 g. to 

 everj' one gram of nitrogen. If we neglect 

 the small quantity of nitrogen iu the faeces, 

 this means that for every 6.25 g. of proteid 

 destroyed in the body 3.75 g. of sugar may 

 be obtained, or sixtj' per cent, of sugar from 

 the proteid molecule. This sugar is com- 

 pletely fermentable with yeast; it is only 

 very slightlj' affected by boiling with 10% 

 liydrochloric acid, and it rotates polarized 

 light as does dextrose. If dextrose be fed 

 to dogs suffering from this form of diabetes, 

 it is almost quantitatively eliminated in the 

 ixrine. If levulose and galactose be fed, 

 dextrose appears in increased quantity in 

 the urine, but no levulose or galactose. The 

 production of phlorhizin diabetes in starv- 

 ing dogs may cause an increased proteid 

 metabolism of four hundred and fifty per 

 cent. 



Further Contributions to the Physiology of Deg- 

 lutition. S. J. Meltzee. 

 Kronecker and Meltzer have advanced 

 the view, on the basis of convincing experi- 

 ments, that in the act of deglutition fluids 

 and semi-solids are not carried down by 

 peristalsis, but are I'apidly squirted down 

 the oesophagus by the rapid contraction 

 especially of the mylohyoid muscles. After 

 M. discovered the presence of the ' squirt- 

 ing murmur ' opposite the cardia about 

 six seconds after the beginning of degluti- 

 tion, the authors supplemented their view 

 by the assumption that the fluid remains 

 above the cardia until it is carried into the 

 stomach by the peristaltic wave. In sup- 

 port of this latter view, which was contra- 

 dicted by some writers, Meltzer reported 

 some experimental observations. In rab- 

 bits and dogs the cardiac aperture of the 

 stomach was directly observed while the 

 deglutition was going on, and it was found 

 that the entire swallowed mass was carried 

 into the stomach by peristalsis only. Fur- 

 thermore, bj' the removal of a few ribs and 

 by the introduction of a ' specuhim ' into 



various parts of the thorax the behavior 

 of the entire thoracic oesophagus during 

 deglutition could be satisfactorily scruti- 

 nized. Meltzer summarizes his observa- 

 tions as follows : During each act of deg- 

 lutition liquid and air are rapidly squirted 

 down into the oesophagus to a point about 

 half way between the bifurcation of the 

 trachea and the diaphragm and remain 

 there until the peristaltic wave carries 

 them down into the stomach. 

 Movements of the Alimentary Canal. H. P. 



BOWDITCH. 



This paper was a brief preliminary re- 

 port upon the results of some experiments 

 performed in the laboratory of the Harvard 

 Medical School by Messrs. A. Moser and 

 W. B. Cannon, medical students, on the 

 movements of the alimentary canal as 

 studied by means of the X-rays and a fluo- 

 rescent screen. 



For this purpose moist bread, meat, mush 

 or viscid fluids were mixed with subnitrate 

 of bismuth. Food thus prepared is visible 

 during the process of deglutition, and, if 

 given in sufficient quantities, serves to out- 

 line the stomach and to render its peris- 

 taltic movements visible. Observations on 

 a goose showed that a bolus of such food, 

 swallowed without water, moved slowly 

 and regularly down the oesophagus. There 

 was no evidence of squirting. The move- 

 ment was slower in the lower part of the 

 neck. When water was given with the 

 boluses the movement was irregular. 

 Viscid fluids were swallowed in the same 

 peristaltic waj''. 



Experiments with a cat showed that a 

 bolus of meat moved down the oesophagus 

 regularly with no interruption or shooting 

 movement. In the neck and from the level 

 of the apex of the heart to the stomach the 

 rate was lower than in the intermediate 

 region. When water was added, the bolus 

 shot down at irregular intervals, but at the 

 level of the apex of the heart the rate 



