Collected contributions on digestion and diet : with an appendix on the opium habit in India.

  • Roberts, W. (William)
Date:
1897
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Collected contributions on digestion and diet : with an appendix on the opium habit in India. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Augustus C. Long Health Sciences Library at Columbia University and Columbia University Libraries/Information Services, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the the Augustus C. Long Health Sciences Library at Columbia University and Columbia University.

    34/344 (page 16)
    and all soluble ferments as ' enzymes,' then the process in which zymes are engaged might be called ' zymosis ' —and the process in which enzymes are engaged might be termed ' enzymosis.' The action of the former might be described as 'zymic,' and that of the latter ' enzymic' It would also follow that in scientific description the verb to ' ferment' would be displaced by the verb to ' zymose,' or to ' enzymose,' as the case might be. THE PREPARATION OF ARTIFICIAL DIGESTIVE JUICES. The study of the digestive ferments has been im- mensely facilitated by a method first introduced by Eberle. Eberle discovered that an aqueous infusion or extract of the digestive glands possessed the same pro- perties as the natural secretions or juices of those glands. The reason of this is that the glands which secrete the digestive juices contain within them a reserve stock of their respective ferments. Accordingly, when the glands are infused in water their reserve stock of ferments passes into solution. These infusions or extracts then constitute artificial digestive juices which operate in a flask or beaker in the same way as the corresponding glandular secretions act in the alimentary canal. Solu- tions of organic matters are, however, extremely perish- able—they pass quickly into putrefaction. In order to obviate this inconvenience, and to obtain an extract which is always handy for use, various preservative means have been employed. Bernard used carbolic acid—others have used glycerine' or common salt. ' Glycerine is one of the best solvents of the digestive ferments, especially for the preparation of solutions designed for experimental purposes. Bullock's acid glycerine of pepsin is used medicinally very largely, and is one of the most active preparations in the market.