, 1876-11-27
PHENOMENA OF DIGESTION.


Jnst now ,nc,I,cal men In Paris arc busy dis
",,.,.,,. ,.., ,,,,,to, h,. o,,,o ,,ndor tho
ehssryaton utb Of the ,s leared Dr. yerneu rhe
Doctor 1ad lad brought to him for treatment
nj, the IIospitat do In rItic, who had swallowed
,.v ,ccL,ort 1os, m ca,,stic ootnsh. Tim
uy as,aens ".axe.,s ,o .aa,,"aa a. t,rh, .,n.
terrible escharot1e proaureo 80 1.eht con.
strlctiun In tho Ellle& that no 1000 Woulu
PASS down into tho stomach. Death from
iuan.ttou must haye been tho result had
~. ~ vosn1,,,1, .o,,r, gnn,,a,y roaolrel n n.r.
',o1 ~. s'sneun ,,. susou ,.no,r ~ ~ res pe
form the dreadful operation known as gas
trotomy. On the e0th Of July, accordingly, he
cut rig BIT into the lail's stomach, and inscrtosl
III. Il an oIoat,r t,,c t,rorp, whic,, food could
,ns1 ~ a w .no .s," .na sa,,n ,noa,'o,,s,
meat, mashed vegetables, anu drink, were nd-
,nIntstcted. On tho 10th OF September the
young mnn recovered his health and spirits. He
was able to 90 about aud help Tho servants ia
and energy as hc Ind before tho accident Be-
wcen the 18th Of August and tho 14th Of Scptcm-
her llc gained ton pounds In weight, while being
fed through tho hole In bis stou'acl,, or course
lents Of the complex phenomena Of digestion,
and it Cannot but recall still stranger one,
which, nearly forty years ago, Or. Beaumont,
CANADIAN, had the good fortune to observe.
formulate nearly all our existing knowledge Of
Tic processes Of stonncllal digestion. Uo was
ono Alexis St. Mnrtin by name, mud, luckily for
science, he had hole made In his stomach
Ur. Beaumont cured him 30 far That ho rccoy-
crud his health; bnt, though the wound healed,
the opening rcmatcd, and through 1t Dr.. Beau-,
mont was enabled to sec the workings OF a lIy
circumstances. Another caso Of tho same sort
-tllat Of an Esthantnn woman-camc uu.lcr the
observation Of Drs. Schroeder and Gr,1newa!dt
somo four-and- twenty years ago, and ylvisectors
ducesl tho same condition Ia dogs, and thereby
gained o certain Insight Into tho behavior
Of food In the ycntrnl alcmbc of tho
tissues. It was found for example, that In tt1a
pale aid tlabby, snd lay close together, where
upon some people crropcoualy concluded tlas
tic scusntion OF hunger was die to tic rubbing
OF the coats Of tho stomach osi each other, II
WAS noted ttat whenever food was Introduced
lated calculation, and it's muscular activity was
arouscI, As br, beaumont said, from
observations made on Alexis st, Martin,
the cl,ovcl food was cllurncl In tho stomach,
| or its clrvaturcs. In this way It waz trituratcu
nnl cxnosed TO Tho solvent action Of tho epstrtc
juice whicl, acted Oh tbs nlbuminous and golatln-
| Gus substances swallowed, until grulually II
THUS WIS It found out thai We take usually
eas at S saen s ffa ood
much in their tIigcstbiity- for example,
introduced into Tho stolIiach alouo, but arc
mlcll 1uorc speedily got rid OF BY tlat organ II
cuten with salatl or Vegetable matters.
Of ali tho clIrlous fucts observed by students
OF the ptul.olncna of lisestlot,, however, nouc
were seci. to aifeet Tic operations nf the atua,.
acl, Mental cxerti;ns pure and simple did noi
seem to rotarl digestion 30 much as Ind beer
conjeclureI. Yoe when associated With urcp
l ,.r