Abstract
Pawlow called attention to water as a stimulant of gastric secretion but the degrees and limitations of stimulation produced by water in food Pawlow has not recorded. Using dogs with Pawlow fistulas, it was observed that with definite amounts of cracker meal as food, the amount and rate of gastric secretion depend to some extent on the amount of water given the dog with his meal, i. e., when small amounts of water are given, the secretion is slow and scanty. If larger quantities of water are mixed in the food the secretion is more abundant.
The degree of acidity of gastric juice depends upon the amount of secretion. When this is considerable it is much more acid than when the secretion is scanty. Pawlow is of the opinion that the degree of acidity of the gastric juice is constant; this can hardly be correct, however, for the total acidity changes from hour to hour. The proportion of free acid depends upon the amount of mucus secreted, since mucus protein like other proteins combines with HCl. Mucus in the presence of pepsin combines with HCl to a considerable extent and undergoes digestion, with formation of proteoses.
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