MECHANISM OF SECRETION OF GASTRIC, 
PANCREATIC. AND INTESTINAL JUICES. 
By J. S. Edkins. 
Contexts. — Histological Appearances of the Secretory Conditions of the Stomach, 
p. 531 — Functions of the Cells and Regions of the Stomach, p. 532 — Methods 
of obtaining Gastric Juice, p. 536 — Influence of the Nervous System on Gastric 
Secretion, p. 537 — Conditions which provoke Secretion, p. 540 — Formation of 
the Ferments of Gastric Juice, p. 542 — Formation of Renuin, p. 543 — Variations 
in Gastric Juice during Digestion, p. 544— Histological Appearances of the 
Secretory Conditions of the Pancreas, p. 546— Influence of the Nervous System 
upon Pancreatic Secretion, p. 547 — Conditions which provoke the Flow of 
Pancreatic Juice, p. 551— Ferments of the Pancreatic Juice and their Ante- 
cedents, p. 551 — Variations in Pancreatic Juice during Digestion, p. 553 — 
Evidence of Secretion in the Intestine, p. 554. 
The Mechanism of Gastric Secretion. 
The histological appearances of the different secretory con- 
ditions of the stomach, and the relation of the secretory granules 
to the enzyme.— Though the existence of specific granules iu secretory 
glands had previously been pointed out in connection with the pancreas 
'and some salivary glands, it was not till 1879 that their existence was 
also observed in the secreting cells of the gastric mucous memhrane by 
Langley and Sewall, 1 who showed that the chief or central cells are, in 
the resting condition, crowded with conspicuous granules, and that 
during digestion the granules in these cells diminish. As far as the 
ovoid or border cells are concerned, granules are to be seen in these, but 
they are much smaller in size, though quite discrete. 
After digestion the cells take on different appearances, which consist 
mainly in the decrease of the number of granules. This decrease may 
be manifested in two different ways. In the first case, and the more 
typical, the outer border of the cell alone may show the lack of granules, 
the luminal border retaining them, unless in an extreme condition of 
exhaustion. In the second case, there may be a uniform decrease of 
granules throughout the cell, accompanied by a diminution in size 
of the cell, but unaccompanied by any formation of zones. These two 
forms of decrease may occur in different parts of the gastric mucous 
membrane of the same animal. Thus in the greater curvature of the 
stomach in both the rabbit and guinea-pig there is a formation of zones, 
in the cells of the fundus such a division is not seen. 
1 "Changes in Pepsin-forming Glands/' Journ. Physiol., Cambridge and London, 1879, 
vol. ii. 
