INFERENCES FROM DR. BEAUMONT’S EXPERI- 
MENTS AND OBSERVATIONS ON DIGESTION, 
GIVEN IN THE LAST NUMBER, PAGE 390* 
“ 1. That hunger is the effect of distention of the vessels that 
secrete the gastric juice. 
2. That the processes of mastication , insalivation , and deglu- 
tition, in an abstract point of view, do not in any way affect the 
digestion of the food ; or, in other words, when food is introduced 
directly into the stomach in a finely divided state, without these 
previous steps, it is as readily and as perfectly digested as when 
they have been taken. 
3. That saliva does not possess the properties of an alimentary 
solvent. 
4. That the agent of chymification is the gastric juice . 
5. That the pure gastric juice is fluid, clear and transparent , 
without odour , a little salt, and perceptibly acid. 
0. That it contains free muriatic acid , and some other active 
chemical principles. 
7. That it is never found free in the gastric cavity, but is 
always excited to discharge itself by the introduction of food, or 
other irritants. 
8. That it is secreted from vessels distinct from the mucous 
follicles. 
9. That it is seldom obtained pure, but is generally mixed 
with mucus, and sometimes with saliva. When pure, it is ca- 
pable of being kept for months, and perhaps for years. 
10. That it coagulates albumen, and afterwards dissolves the 
coagula. 
11. That it checks the progress of putrefaction. 
12. That it acts as a solvent of food, and alters its properties. 
13. That, like other chemical agents, it commences its action 
on food as soon as it comes in contact with it. 
14. That it is capable of combining with a certain and fixed 
quantity of food, and when more aliment is presented for its 
action than it will dissolve, disturbance of the stomach, or “ indi- 
gestion,” will ensue. 
15. That its action is facilitated by the warmth and motions 
of the stomach. 
16. That it becomes intimately mixed and blended with the 
ingest® in the stomach by the motions of that organ. 
* The inferences are given in Dr. Beaumont’s own words, and the italics 
also are his. 
