Deglutition through an esophagus partly deprived of its muscularis,with demonstration

Abstract

As a result of the experiments which Kronecker and I carried out about twenty-seven years ago, it appeared to be conclusively established that liquids are squirted down into the esophagus by the force of the contractions of the mylohyoid muscles and some muscles of the tongue, and that liquid thus projected reaches the cardia long before the arrival of the peristaltic wave. At that time the experiments were carried out on a human esophagus. About ten years ago in a series of experiments on the dog I found that our contention held good also for that animal. Cannon and Moser, however, who studied the esophagus by the fluoroscopic method, although confirming our conclusions for the human being, state that “in the dog and cat but little variation was seen in the swallowing of liquids and solids.” Recently Schreiber stated that even in the human being, liquids, just like solids, are not squirted down but are carried by the muscles of the mouth and tongue to the pharynx, whence they are conveyed further into the esophagus by the contractions of the constrictors of the pharynx and are finally transported into the stomach by the peristaltic movements of the esophagus. In other words, liquids are also slowly pushed forward through every section of the path of deglutition by the contraction of the muscle fibers of that section; there is no part of that long path through which liquids are thrown or squirted.

I do not intend to enter into an analysis of the experiments and arguments upon which Schreiber founded his views. The object of my communication was to demonstrate a dog drinking in a perfectly normal manner, although a large section of its path deglutition was deprived of all muscle fibers.