CHAPTER IV. 



THE DIGESTIVE ORGANS. 



Their Diseases and How to Cure Them, 



Description of ai<imentary canae, diseases of the teeth, 

 diseases of the mouth, diseases of the gueeet and (esophagus, 

 diseases of the stomach, diseases of the intestines, dis- 

 eases 'of the eiver, intestinae worms. 



EHE process carried on by the various organs of the alimentary 

 canal thereby changing the form and character of the food, in or- 

 der that it may be absorbed into the blood as nourishment is known 

 gN as digestion. The organs whose functions it is to perform this 

 work are known as the digestive organs. The first portion of the ali- 

 mentary' canal is the mouth, where are found the teeth for making the 

 food fine and mixing it with the saliva from the salivary glands which 

 open into this organ. By mixing the saliva with tlie food, dry sub- 

 stances become soft, are easily swallowed, and more easily digested. 

 This saliva has another very important duty and that is, that by aid of a 

 peculiar ferment called ptyalin, the starchy substances found in hay, 

 grain, and roots are changed to maltose, then by taking on water further 

 change to grape sugar. The digestion carried on in the stomach is 

 called gastric digestion or stomach digestion, that in the small intestines 

 intestinal digestion. The large intestines are used principally in ab- 

 sorbing the liquid coming from the small intestines and carrying off the 

 refuse matter after the nourishing portion has been absorbed by the villi 



