230 On Intestinal Rest and Movement. 



Experiment IX, Curve VIII. 



Reduced scale = £th. 



Experiment IX (Curve VIII). — Injection of 5 c.c. of water at the 

 fourth minute into the upper fistulous opening, peristalsis being 

 present, caused on the first occasion a relaxation lasting for 4', and on 

 the second, between the twelfth and thirteenth minutes, for 2', the 

 pen falling 18 mm. After each of these injections the peristalsis 

 became for a time more active. 



Propulsion of a .Sound upon which Traction is being Exerted. 



If the pen were weighted with a burden of 8 or 10 grams at a time, 

 when the sound was being passed onwards by well-developed peri- 

 staltic movement it was found that not only was the portion of 

 intestine in which the travelling body was situated at the moment 

 drawn towards the mouth of the fistula, but that the powerful con- 

 tractions which occurred were incapable of materially forwarding the 

 body. Even the traction caused by applying a weight of 5 grams to 

 the pen produced much hindrance, and the spasmodic contractions 

 induced, and which had a propulsive character created a most distinct 

 discomfort or colic. After the removal of the hindrance to effective 

 transmission, the intestine unfolded itself, whilst the discomfort gave 

 place to the most evident manifestations of satisfaction on the part of 

 the dog, and active peristalsis — which was, however, soon reduced to 

 its orginal character — took place. 



In contrasting this experiment with the well-known result obtained 

 by Mosso, who observed that the oesophagus could hold a sound con- 

 nected with a falling weight which exerted a traction of 450 grams, 

 and forward one of but little less, the rectilineal course of the tube, 

 and the fact that it is practically fixed at both ends — in both of which 

 respects it acts at a far greater advantage than the intestine — must be 

 borne in mind. I possess evidence, however, which I hope to be in a 

 position to produce shortly, that even if these unfavourable conditions 

 are obviated, the small intestine is physiologically unfitted for the 

 systematic propulsion of bodies upon which more than a very 



