The San Francisco call., 1903-12-10
Work of the Glands.


Editor Health Culture Magazine, New York;
Copyright, 1903 by Joseph b. Bowles
The glands of the body are so many
and so varied and the work they do is
so important that, besides the general
facts discussed in our last article, it
viii be interesting to consider briefly a
few Of the more important glands, how
they operate and what they produce.
First Of all we may glance at the
glands OF the mouth, the salivary
glands. These are very numerous
There are three large ones, the parotid
the sub-maxillary and the sub-lingual,
on each side; two small ones, Blandin's
and Weber's, under the tongue On each
side, and a great many minute glands
buried in the tissues of the lips, cheeks
and other parts. Each of these glands,
or perhaps we should say each pair of
these- glands, elaborates a fluid pecu-
liar to itself These fluids combine to
form the saliva.
The saliva is a most important fluid.
Its chief value arises from the
presence in it of substance
called ptyalin. Now ptyalin is an
engine or ferment. And a ferment is
substance that has the power of caus-
ing certain chemical changes in other
substances. This particular engine,
ptyalin. is what is called an amylo-
Iytic or diastasic ferment which simply
means that, when brought into contact
with starch, ii has the power of chang
ing that starch into sugar.
This amylolysis or conversion OF
starch into sugar. is necessary before
the substance can be digested, for
starchy foods. such as bread. cereals
and most vegetables, cannot be digest
ed until they are converted into spe-
cial kind of sugar. The process is
complex series of chemical changes, in
which the starch becomes in turn
amylo-dextrin, erythro-dextrin, achroo-
dextrin. malto-dextrin and then mall
tose. This question viii be more fully
discussed when we come to consider
digestion.
The glands of the stomach are nu-
merous and their function is most i'm
portant. These glands are for the most
part simple or compound tubular
d
opening. lined with filtering (epitheliaD
cells. like a well lined with bricks; OF,
a mere tubular opening with otE--s
branching from it and called COM
pound tubular gland. The glands of
the stomach dip down into fine, close
network Of blood vessels (capillaries),
and absorb from the blood surrounding
them the elements required to form the
gastric fluid. In a state of hunger the
surface of the stomach is pale; and,
the blood flow being slight, the glands
are also pallid and inactive. The taste
of food. the introduction of food into
the stomach. or, in fact, even the
thought Of food, causes a striking
change in the appearance of the stom-
ach lining and of the glands situated
upon it, There is an immediate and
marked increase in the amount of blood
sent TO the stomach, its lining becomes
flushed and the gastric glands become
active and begin TO secrete from the
blood and pour out into the stomach
the gastric Juice.
The pepsin, which is the principal
engine found in the blood, has the
power of changing proteid matters.
stances contained in meat, milk, le-
gumes (peas, beans, lentils) and nuts
into what is called peptone, in which
form they can be used by the body.
Then there are the intestinal glands,
which in form and operation are some
what similar to the glands of the
stomach. The intestinal juice is not
perfectly understood either as to it's
composition or its action. 1t is known,
however, to possess three engines. or
ferments. one an amylolytic ferment
like the ptyalin of the saliva, changing
starch TO sugar, the others changing
sugars into more digestible forms
Among other glands in the body may
be mentioned the liver, the spleen. the
pancreas and the ductless glands. The
liver. the spleen and the duetless
glands we will consider in other con-
nections The pancreas is an important
gland which in the abdomen near
the stomach and which, from its re-
semblance to the salivary glands, has
been called the abdominal salivary
gland. 1t is about seven inches long
and two in width. 1t secretes from the
bloc a fluid known as the pancreatic
juice, which has an important part in
digesting the food. The pancreatic
fluid contains at least four ferments.
amylOpsin, which, like the ptyalin of
the saliva, changes starch to sugar;
trypsin, which, like the pepsin of the
gastric juice. changes proteid to pep
tone; steapsin, which emulsifies fats,
and lastly, ferment that. like the rem
min OF the gastric juice, causes milk to
curdle
Now, most of the fluids secreted by
the glands which we have just dis
cussed are used in the process of diges-
tion. And in our next article we will
describe some interesting features Of
the digestive operation.