The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1879-07-11

and chewing, then, have their purpose.
but with the exception Of the incisors
occasionally, that purpose does not in
clude meat unless Il has become dried.
this Is with respect 20 the food before Il
reaches the stomach, but. OF course. the
question then arises: Would Il not be 4
better condition for digestion II II had
been thoroughly masticateds
The food on reaching the stomach il
kept in rotary motion by the muscular
walls, and only after time does il be.
gin to pass the pyloric cifice, and then
only by degrees, since the digestion far
Their on Is much finer operation. and
can 60 on but slowly. The length II
time that the digestion properly takes,
is, according to the present knowledge
of the subject, several hours-in fact.
somewhat longer than has generally
been supposed. Now, il the meat Il
swallowed fine cut, 1t begins to pass
through very quickly, and before il has
been fully acted upon by the gastric
juice. This action as regards meats
consists in dissolving the sarcolemma
from the muscular tibers, and dissolyino
proteid matters and converting them in.
10 peptones. On starch, gastric
juice has per SC no effect whatever.
On grape-sugar and cane-sugar healthy
gastric juice has no effect" La iats
alone 1t has a slight emulsifying effect.
but If still in the tissue it is dissolved
out. Milk Is accordingly acted on by
being first curdled on icacbingthe siom-
ach, after which 1t Is leisurely dissolved
again in the desired form.
The rotary movement Of the contents
OF the stomach is to facilitate the action
OF the gastric jnice-to bring the various
particles and Jumps of the entire mass
into contact with it as II exudes frcm the
stomach's walls. IL the material has
come from the mouth finely ground IN.
considerable portion goes over into
the duodenum before it has been prop
erly acted upon; but, If II has come
down in coarse Jumps, these begin
shortly to dissolve, passing into a more
or less fluid condition, and this can be
taken care Of with abou. the same rapid
ity by the digestive apparatus following;
by this arrangement no portion Of the
food would be allowed to pass from the
stomach unprepared for the next step
in the digestive process. All portions,
then, even the finest fbers, Of meat
diet, must be acted upon by the gastric
juice before passing on; and this action
progresses best by slowly wearing of
the outside Of the morsels.
Prof. Ludwig has made some general
experiments as TO the truth Of this theo-
~ upon himself, eating coarsely cut
meat at one time and fine at another,
without at least being able to detectany
i'll effects whatever from morsels as
large as it was convenient to swallow.
Many workingmen, business men, and
others, almost bolt their food without
loss of excellent digestion; we should
bear in mind, Of course, that they have
to chew much Of their vegetable food
for convenience in swallowing, and also
that the indigestion of business men oc-
casionally is due more TO their nervous
condition at the time.
A slight amount Of chewing or mum
bling serves to detect harsh substances,
AS bones, and to prepare for swallow
ing; foreign matters Of considerable
size will, however, gradually make their
way, and, If nDt.r0ugh, may pass with.
out injury. The writer once had an ex-
perience VI this nature with piece 81
iron an inch in length and third in d.
ameter.
To conclude, then, with respect to
man as well as other tlesh-eaters: il is
not only not necessary, but also not
best, TO chew meat Of any kind 10 fine
condition, but TO swallow il in conyen-
lent morsels; this initiates against hash.
With regard to all non-meat food, care
full mastication is better, but hardly so
necessary as has been supposed. Prof.
Vim. Br0untn0. En0land.