The Toledo chronicle. [volume] (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1873-1924, 1876-12-21

accident. Between the 18th of Au-
gust and the 14th of September he
gained ten pounds in weight, while
being fed through the hole in his
stomach. OF course this case must
have rare interest for all students of
the complex phenomena of digestion,
and it cannot but recall still stranger
one, which, nearly forty years ago,
DR.. Beaumont, Canadian, had the
good fortune to observe. His patient
enabled psychologists, in fact, to formu-
late nearly all our existing knowledge
of the processes of stomachal digeS
ton. He was one Alexis st. Martin
by name, and, luckily for science, he
had a hole made in his stomach
through the sudden discharge of
gun, and DIR. Beaumont cured
him so far that he recovered
his health; but though the wound
healed, the opening remained, and
through it DR.. Beaumont was enabled
to see the workings of living human
stomach in nearly all conceivable cir
cumstances. Another case of the
same sOrt-that of an Esthonian wo-
man-came under the observation of
Drs. Shredder and Grunewaldt some
four-and twenty years ago, and vivi-
sectors know how Blondlot and others
artiticially produced the same cOndi-
ton in dogs, and thereby gained GER
tain insight into the behavior of food
in the ventral alembic of the tissues.
1t was found, for example, that in the
fasting state the walls of the stomach
appeared pale and tlabby, and lay close
together, whereupOn some people er-
roneously conceded that the sensation
of hunger was due to the rubbing of
the coats of the stomach on each other.
1t was noted that whenever food was
introduced the sides Of the cavity red
dened with the stimulated circulation,
and its muscular activity was aroused.
As DR.. Beaumont said, from observa-
tionS made on Alexis st. Martin, the
chewed food was churned in the
stomach, and carried round and round
the course of its curvatures. In this
way it was triturated and exposed to
the solvent action of the gastric juice
which acted on the albuminOuS and
gelatinOus substances swallowed, until
gradually Il milky fluid known as
chyme was elaborated. Thus was it
found out that we take usually about
four hours to digest dinner; and it
was also discovered that different
kinds of food vary much in their di-
gestibility-notable, for example, that
fats and oil take long time to digest
when introduced into the stomach
alone, but are much more speedily got
rid of by that organ if eaten with
salad or vegetable matters.
OF all the curious facts observed by
students of the phenomena of diges-
ton, however, none was stranger
than the extent to which emotions
were seen to affect the operations of
the stomach. Mental eXertions pure
and simple did not seem to retard di-
gestiOn so much as had been cOnject-
ured. Yet when associated with deep
emotions, or with that fretfulness of
mind we call IVORY" it appeared to
bava u hapafrl ipHuapoa A. for ibo
tiercer passions, an outbreak of them
would sometimes suffice to prevent
the stomach even when most vigorous
from discharging its functions.
Another mysterious phenomenon no.
ticed i'll connection with digestion was
the sympathetic influence exercised by
the stomach over the secretion of the
mouth. This secretion, as is we'll
known, has an important chemical ac-
ton on certain constituents of food,
changing by sort of fermenting pro-
cess starchy matters, for instance, in
to sugar. In DR.. Nernueil'S case,
wherever food was injected into the
stomach Of his patient, "a flow of
saliva in the mouth is produced, in the
election of which a motion curiouslv
resembling chewing is remarked" In
short, the different parts of the di-
geStive apparatus are so linked to-
gether by nervous connections
that they sympathize" with each
other, and if one be stimulated the
rest are also excited. But, as might
be expected, there is no connection ap-
parent between the nervous system of
the stomach and the nerves of taste;
for it is related of DR.. Nerneuil's pa
tient that when food is put into his
stomach, although his mouth fills with
saliva, he feels no sense of flavor in
the substance with which he is fed.
lie is only aware if they be hot or
cold. and, indeed, no anchorite could
be III state of more philosophic in
difference to the choicest pleasures of
the table. The question forces itself
on us, will it be beneficial thing to
rescue him from this condition? These
be hard times, and savory food is get
ting dealer and dearer every day.
Would not man who was thus physi-
cally insensible to gastronomic luxu-
res, who cared not IA jot as to what he
ate or drank, have an advantage in the
battle for life which ought not to be
lightly estimated? So long as good
digestion waited on appetite, he would
be free from the carking care that
darkens the soul of the sybarite as he
ponders in his mind the most moment
Gus of all questions: "What shall |
have for dinner to-day? or sits down
to his banquet in fear and trembling
lest the cooks kitchen science NAV for
once have failed him in its prepare
tion.-London Telegraph.
FOUR MONTHS FOR A DOLLARl
ST. NICHOLAS for January, with its
CHEEKY greeting on the cover, its exquisite
ly beautiful frontispiece, the wonderful
variety in its pages, and its