An experimental inquiry, into the principles of nutrition, and the digestive process / by John R. Young.

  • Young, John Richardson, 1782-1804.
Date:
1803
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: An experimental inquiry, into the principles of nutrition, and the digestive process / by John R. Young. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

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    t 23 ] in a word the whole was a complete dissolved mass. It was swallowed a third time, and at- tempted to be drawn up in six hours afterwards ; but it had so far lost its texture, that the two legs to which the thread was tied, could only be brought up ; the bones of these were soft and flexible, as before mentioned. Many experiments of this kind were made to see the effects of their gastric menstruum : In many cases, after giving them small frogs, the trunk and head of these animals were drawn out of their stomachs complete skel- etons, but the bones were always soft, and felt like tender cartilage. In all the half digested substances which were at different times taken from their stomachs, as frogs, veal, beef, &c. an acid was constantly found present: they were sel- dom examined before two hours after being swal- lowed ; at this short interval when their surfaces were touched with litmus paper, it was turned red. Snakes, like the large frogs, also swallow their food without mastication; many experiments were therefore, also made on them, by forcing, frogs, lizards &c. into their stomachs, to see the effects of solution ; they agreed in every respect with what has been said of frogs ; like them per- fectly dissolving down entire animals ; the only difference between them was, that the solution of snakes, went on only about half as fast, as that of the large frogs. The gastric fluid of man, and that of frogs and snakes, agree perfectly in their action on flesh; as the experiments of Spallanzani prove, that the first of these powerfully dissolves meat out