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success in Asia, in times of great scarcity : it 

 acts as a tonic. But when the matter, which 

 fills the stomach, can be regarded neither as an 

 aliment, that is, as proper to be assimilated, nor 

 as a tonic stimulating the nerves, the cessation 

 of hunger is probably owing only to the secre- 

 tion of the gastric juice. We here touch upon 

 a problem of physiology, which has not been 

 sufficiently investigated. Hunger is appeased, 

 the painful feeling of inanition ceases, when the 

 stomach is filled. It is said, that this viscus 

 stands in need of ballast ; and every language 

 furnishes figurative expressions, which convey 

 the idea, that a mechanical distention of the sto- 

 mach causes an agreeable sensation. Very 

 recent works of physiology still speak of the 

 painful contraction, which the stomach expe- 

 riences during hunger, the friction of it's sides 

 against one another, and the action of the acid 

 gastric juice on the texture of the digestive ap- 

 paratus. The observations of Bichat, and more 

 particularly the fine experiments of Mr. Magen- 

 die, are in contradiction to these superannuated 

 hypotheses. After twenty-four, forty-eight, or 

 even sixty hours of abstinence, no contraction 

 of the stomach is observed ; it is only on the 

 fourth or fifth day, that this organ appears to 

 change in a small degree it's dimensions. The 

 quantity of the gastric juice diminishes with the 

 duration of abst inence. It is probable that this 



