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528 ILLUSTRATED WORLD
WHEN HUNGER HAS BEEN SATISFIED
This is an X-ray picture of the stomach at rest. A bismuth balloon was inserted to make the stomach stand out
sufficiently to be photographed.
inal about wall thirty into seconds the stomach, each, while and all the food en­
taken is placed in the stomach through
this opening, which is large enough to
admit a rubber tube three-fourths of an
inch in diameter. In this way, the man,
who is now thirty-one years old, has
been feeding himself for over twenty
years. In all other respects, he is perfectly
normal; he is a healthy, muscled
man, lacking only that zest for fine food
that taste-sharpened appetite—and nothing
else—can give.
Through this opening or fistula, Dr.
Carlson has been able to make direct
inspections of the stomach by putting
an electric light into it, or inserting
balloons to make the pressure records
described above.
According to these experiments, what
actually happens when we are hungry is
this: As soon as the stomach is empty,
a series of weak or slight contractions,
gradually becoming stronger, takes place.
On an average, these contractions last
tire contraction period occupies from
thirty to forty-five minutes. At first the
individual contractions are definitely separated,
coming from two to five minutes
apart, but toward the end of the period,
the more vigorous contractions follow
one another immediately and without interruption.
Indeed in young and vigorous
individuals the contractions come so
rapidly toward the end of the period
that they form a "tetanus", or cramp, of
uninterrupted contraction, which endures
for several minutes. This is the "hungry
stomachache" that was such a common
affliction in our knickerbocker days.
This period of contractions is the
hunger period, and each individual contraction
is a hunger pang. The periods
come anywhere from half an hour to two
and a half hours apart in normal, healthy
adults. In infants, where Professor
Carlson has measured the hunger contractions
by this same balloon method,