FIFTH REPORT— 1835. 
212 
and its lining membrane may be nearly or quite white ; or, on the 
other hand, they may be turgid by cadaveric congestion, and 
the lining membrane may be more intensely injected than in 
many cases of poisoning. Such differences though great are not 
more remarkable than those which are seen after death in the 
common integuments. It is however of the utmost importance 
that they should be well understood, since a mistake respecting 
them might seriously affect the reputation, if not the life, of a 
fellow-creature. The medical profession is greatly indebted to 
Dr. Yellowly, who long since called the attention of his brethren 
to this subject. The colour of the mucous membrane of the 
stomach is also very liable to be modified by its contents, which 
act on the blood in its vessels by transudation after death. This 
and some other circumstances to be hereafter mentioned have 
probably been the means of turning aside from the truth many 
able pathologists who have written on gastro-intestinal irritation, 
and more especially on chronic inflammation of the mucous 
membrane of the stomach. The researches of Dr. Stevens re¬ 
specting the influence of different agents on the colour of the 
blood are well deserving attention in connexion with this sub¬ 
ject, and appear to me to have thrown new light upon it. The 
colour of the stomach as well as many other parts may be greatly 
altered by exposure to the air after removal from the body. 
The form and texture of the mucous coat of the stomach, 
which are of equal importance whether we regard the effects of 
disease or of poisons, appear to be involved in no less difficulty 
than the subject of the colour. 
As a preliminary step to the right understanding of these 
alterations of texture we ought to be acquainted with those dif¬ 
ferences which depend in some degree on individual peculiarity, 
since the internal as well as the external teguments may admit 
of varieties of this kind. Still greater and more important dif¬ 
ferences are doubtless to be referred to the kind of diet which 
has been habitually employed; here however an almost insur¬ 
mountable difficulty presents itself, since the diet employed in 
this and in most other civilized countries is of so various, and at 
the same time of so mixed a character as to render it almost 
impossible to connect cause and effect with any degree of cer¬ 
tainty. If the subject were not neglected, as appears to have 
been altogether the case, some clue might possibly be found in 
the observation and collection of extreme cases which from time 
to time present themselves, and some assistance might be derived 
in the way of analogy from experiments performed on inferior 
animals fed expressly for this purpose. 
Some of the differences of form and texture which come under 
