Clinical diagnosis : the bacteriological, chemical, and microscopical evidence of disease / by Rudolf v. Jaksch.

  • Jaksch, Rudolf v., 1855-1947.
Date:
1899
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Clinical diagnosis : the bacteriological, chemical, and microscopical evidence of disease / by Rudolf v. Jaksch. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, Harvard Medical School.

    182/572 (page 150)
    THE GASTRIC JUICE AND VOMIT I. EXAMINATION OF THE GASTRIC JUICE.—Like the saliva, the gastric juice is the product not of one but of several_distinct sets .oJUglands. It_ is composed of th^fluid^^ecretedjDy the .pyloric glands of the stomach and Jhat of the J^^iacglands, these forming its active digestive ingredients ; and it iricludes^ also a portion of jhe buccal secre- tion which has been swallowed and is already partly changed in the process of digestion.1 1. Naked-Eye Characters.—The gastric juice of man is a colour- less fluid, generally clear, but it is occasionally turbid. Its reaction is acid. 2. Formed Elements.—Microscopical„ej^minatipn of the gastric juice at a time when, the stomach contamslittlejar n^_residue_of undi- gested food shows singlesquamous epithelial cells derived from the upper _partj3f the alimentary canalj columnar epithelium very_ rarely and only in special instances; fungi of various kinds, especially bacilli and micrococci; and usually also yeast cells. Abelous2 has distinguished sixteen, and Loclchart Gillespie3 twenty-four different micro-organisms. Amongst these are Sarcina ventriculi, Bacillus pyocyaneus, Bacterium lactis aerogenes, Bacillus subtilis, and others, all of which effect changes in the food—albumin, milk, or carbo-hydrates. From this fact it would appear probable that in the stomach, as in the intestines, certain of the fission-fungi are concerned in physiological functions. On the other hand, there can be no doubt that the gastric juice is the means, under appropriate conditions, by which a host of the most dangerous germs of disease are rendered harmless and destroyed. This property is derived from the free hydrochloric acid which hinders the development of such fungi.4 According to Jaworski,5 the microscopical characters of the fluid differ according as it has an acid reaction or otherwise. It should also be remarked that Henschen,6 in one case of carcinoma of the stomach, discovered infusoria (Monadines) in the contents of that organ. If the examination be made while digestion is going on, the character of the gastric juice will approach that of which we shall have occasion