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Chapter IV: The Stomach and Intestines.2109
of masticated and in-salivated food reaches the Stomach by means of a
tube called the gullet or aesophagus which enters it at its upper opening.
The Stomach then begins to digest the food, by means of a fluid which it
secretes which is called the Gastric Juice. The Gastric Juice flows out in great
quantities, and produces a chemical action on the food-mass, which changes
its nature by dissolving certain portions of it; releasing the fat and breaking
it up; and transforming some of the albuminous material, such as lean meat,
the gluten of wheat and the whites of eggs, into albuminose, in which form
it may be absorbed. While this chemical work of digestion is going on, the
fluid portion of the food-mass as well as the fluids which have been drunk
has been separated from the solids and then absorbed through the walls of
the stomach and taken up by the circulation or blood supply, and carried out
of the system by means of the kidneys, skin, etc. While the digestive work is
going on, the stomach muscles are busily at work “churning” up the digested
food. Soon a gray, semi-fluid mass is formed, called Chyme, composed of
a mixture of some of the sugar and salts of the food; transformed starch
or glucose; softened starch, broken fat etc.; and albuminose. (The above
description refers to a Stomach acting properly. In cases of Indigestion,
Dyspepsia, etc., the Stomach becomes like a great yeast-pot, filled with a
sour, fermenting and putrefying mass.) This mass of chemically changed
matter, called the Chyme, then passes on through the Pyloric Opening or
“Gate,” into the Small Intestine, which we shall now describe.
B. The Small Intestines. This important part of the digestive system
consists of a long intestine, or tube, nearly thirty feet in length, which is
ingeniously wound around or coiled upon itself so that it occupies but a
small space in comparison with its great length. Its entire length is lined
with a soft velvety covering, arranged in a peculiar way that resembles
plush, the appearance being caused by numerous small elevations known
as the intestinal villi, which act as absorbents, secretents, etc. The Chyme
which has just entered the Small Intestine from the Stomach passes along
the thirty feet of velvety tubing, being subjected to the action of the bile,