Is There Anything Else About The Mouth That Aids Digestion?

"Nothing that aids it, but something that doesn't aid it."

What Is That?

"Filth. Some people keep their mouths like garbage boxes. They allow all kinds of food to lodge and decay until it even rots their teeth, and then they have a mouth tainted with decaying food and decomposing bones, which is a harbor for the various kinds of bacteria."

What Harm Does This Do?

"When food is eaten, these foul accumulations and bacteria are carried to the stomach, and no doubt are often great factors in disturbing the stomach and general system, and one of the sights calculated to make one pity the human race is to see persons cut holes in their flesh to make themselves beautiful with jewelry and yet carry a mouth and teeth coated with putrid matter so offensive in odor that it is disagreeable to be near them."

What Becomes Of Food When It Leaves The Mouth?

"It passes down a tube called the oesophagus (gullet) into the stomach."

Do People Understand How Their Stomachs Are Constructed?

"No, a great many people suppose their stomachs are copper lined, or at least their habits lead one to that conclusion."

Why Do You Say That?

"Because they have no regard for their stomachs and give themselves no concern as to the character or quantity of what they put in them."

In What Particular?

"It is not an uncommon thing to see people eat soup scalding hot and then drink ice water to cool it. Others make a catch basin of their stomachs and pour in several gallons of beer or large quantities of stronger liquors."

"There are but few who do not use mustard, pepper, horseradish and other intense irritants, while those who are continually taking poisonous drugs are legion. This is not all, the stomach is not supposed to rebel no matter how coarse or tough the food, nor how incompatible the mixtures that ignorance pours into it, and as a result of all this, if the aches, pains, diseases, misery and deaths could be measured by volume they would make a pyramid from the earth to Jupiter."

Suppose You Tell Us Something About The Stomach, Doctor?

"I can do that best by first showing you a photograph of it. (See page 20 for illustration.) It is generally described as an irregular shaped sack or pouch, and will hold in normal condition from two up to three and a half pints, although in one case the stomach of a grown person was known to hold only a half pint. Abnormal size is very common, because the majority of the people use their stomachs as a receptacle for the most outlandish collection of indigestible material whichapam-pered civilization can supply. This stretches them so that they are made to retain several gallons of liquid and food under which the system groans with the weight of its torture. The modern stomach exposed to view looks much like a fourth of July balloon. The inside of the stomach is lined with mucous membrane, very similar to that of the mouth. This is arranged in many folds running lengthwise. If the membrane be examined by a microscope, innumerable pits are seen. These pits indicate the pres ence of gastric glands."

Fig 1. A, stomach. B, pyloric end of stomach. C, liver turned up to expose stomach. D, large intestine. E, rectum. F, annus.

Do The Gastric Glands Perform An Important Part In Digestion?

"They do, for they secrete what is commonly known as gastric juice."

Are There Other Glands In The Stomach?

"Yes, mucous-forming cells that secrete mucus."

Is The Gastric Juice Anything Like Saliva?

"Not in the least, for the gastric juice is acid and the saliva alkaline."

Then It Is The Acid That Dissolves The Food?

"That depends upon the kind of food you mean. Properly speaking, it is not the acid alone, but the secretion of acid and a substance called pepsin, acting together, that dissolves tissue forming foods, but not starch. There is another substance in the gastric juice called rennet. This is also called a milk-curdling ferment."

How Did They Ever Find Out Anything About What Was In The Stomach, And What Goes On In The Process Of Digestion?

"Well, not much was known prior to 1822."

What Was Discovered At That Time?

"That was the time when a man by the name of Alexis Saint Martin had his stomach accidently torn open by the discharge of a musket."

What Was The Wound Like?

"The front part of the sixth rib was blown away, the lung and diaphragm torn; but after a long convales-ence he recovered except that there was a large fistulous opening into the stomach. This at first had to be bandaged, but after a time a portion of the mucous membrane of the stomach prolapsed until it hung down over the opening, thus acting as a sort of a curtain to the stomach,"

"That was remarkable."

"Yes, it furnished Dr., Beaumont who treated Saint Martin, a practical method of observing the process of digestion.

Who Was Dr. Beaumont?

"A surgeon in the service of the United States."

How Did He Describe The Digestive Process?

"Dr. Beaumont, in writing of his observation on the stomach of Saint Martin, states that when food first enters the stomach the movements of the stomach are feeble and light, but as digestion goes on, they become more and more vigorous, until the action of the stomach thoroughly churns -the contents within it. The food travels from the upper opening along the lower or greater curvature, to the pylorus, (the end where the food is discharged into the intestines) returns by the upper or lesser curvature, while at the same time the movements of the stomach turn its contents inward so that every particle of food in the stomach comes in contact with the freshly secreted gastric juice. As digestion proceeds, the contents of the stomach becomes more and more acid, and the contracting force of the stomach becomes greater, so that it constantly throws its contents inward from its own walls as well as downward towards the opening into the small intestines."