C 45° } 



fubftances from undergoing that procefs, the fto~ 

 mach itfelf would be digefted. 



But we find on the contrary, that the ftomach, 

 which at one inftant, that is, while poflened of 

 the living principle,, was capable of refitting the 

 digeftive powers which it contained, the next mo- 

 ment, viz. when deprived of the living principle? 

 is itfelf capable of being digefted, either by the 

 digeftive powers of other ftomachs, or by the re- 

 mains of that power which it had of digefting 

 other things. 



From thefe observations, we are led to ac- 

 count for an appearance which we find often in 

 the ftomachs- of dead bodies; and at the lame 

 time they throw a considerable light upon the 

 nature of digeftion. The appearance which has 

 been hinted at, is a dhTolution of the ftomach 

 at its great extremity ; in confequence of which, 

 there is frequently a considerable aperture made in. 

 that vifcus. The edges of this opening appear to 

 be half diffolved, very much like that kind of dif- 

 folution which flefhy parts undergo when half di- 

 gefted in a living ftomach, or when difiblved by a. 

 cauftic alkali, viz. pulpy, tender, and ragged. 



In thefe cafes the contents of the ftomach are 

 generally found looie in the cavity of the abdo- 

 men, about the fpleen and diaphragm. In many 

 Subjects this digeftive power extends much fur- 

 ther than through the ftomach. I have often 

 found, that after it had diftblved the ftomach at 

 the ufual place, the contents of the ftomach had 

 come into contact with the fpleen and diaphragm, 

 2 had 



