On corpulence in relation to disease : with some remarks on diet / by William Harvey.
- Date:
- 1872
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: On corpulence in relation to disease : with some remarks on diet / by William Harvey. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.
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![but also in the conversion of nutrient plastic substances into cells and masses of fibre. Elsasser long since observed that, d uring the process of artificial digestion the solution of nitro- genous foods was considerably accelerated by means of fat; and Lehmann has since determined, by actual experiment on dogs, that albuminous substances deprived of fat remain longer in the stomach, and require more time for their metamorphosis than the same substances impregnated with fat. It is probable indeed, that the digestive power of the pancreatic fluid is due in great measure to the presence of fat; and that the subse- quent chymification of food, and its absorption into the blood, is greatly assisted by it. There is also good reason for be- lieving that it is largely concerned in the formation of bile, and that the biliary acids are conjugated fatty compounds. This and other such foods assist in promoting the secretion of bile.—Letheby on Food.] If the aliments absorbed have not for some time contained any such substances, the body sufiers precisely the same process of dissolution as if no albuminous matter had been taken in nourishment. There have been many direct experiments made on animals, which have been fed exclusively on the one or the other of these last-mentioned simple aliments, in order to ascertain whether they could be kept alive for any length of time. All these experiments have had negative results, and every one of the animals succumbed after a shorter or longer period. From these experiments it is evident that none of the ordinary alimentary substances contain exclusively either the one or the other of the elementary materials of nourishment. Nay more: however much the various alimentary substances which are absorbed by man and all classes of animals may difi’er in their composition, yet they all contain substances be- longing to the class of “ plastic ” matter, as well as to the class of the means of respiration.” For instance, in eating meat.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21950520_0148.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
