THE DIGESTIVE APPARATUS.

Waikato Times, Volume IV, Issue 233, 6 November 1873, Page 2

THE DIGESTIVE APPARATUS.

It has rightly been said that the greatest object of study for man is man himself; this is true in a physical is well as in a moral sense. The human body, indeed, it almost a universe in itself, including many kinds of physical apparatus, statical, djnnmical, hydraulic, chemical, optical, electrical, &c. Tho system of bones and muscles gives an example of the most perfect statical and dynamical arrangement ; the heart, arteries, &c, of jan admirable system of hydraulic contrivances; the digestive apparatus is a most complete chemical laboratory in itself, by which the material 1 called food i» mctamorphised into the living tissues of which man consists. Wo have, on a former occasion, glanced over the most striking features of man's hydraulic system, of which the heart; is tho main organ : let us now take a glance at the chemical laboratory which wo carry with us, of which the stomach it tbo main organ, and which, as well as the circulation of theblood, is carried on incessantly, independently of our wilH and, when perfect, even without our knowledge. Tho stomach is only one of the organs necessary for digestion. This operation, indeed, commences in the mouth, and! extends nearly throughout the whole length of the alimentary canal, which is about twenty-five feet long,*and presentsa surface, to be acted upon by tho food, of some 4,000 squareinches. In tho mouth the food undergoes two operations,, one mechanical mid another chemical. The movements of' the teeth, aided by the tongue, grind it up into small particletof proper size, while the simultaneous intermixture of the liquids secreted from three pair of salivary glands constitute the first chemical operation. Coated with a glairy juice, tho food passes along; the oesophagus into the stomach (which is only an expansion between the cosnphagus and the duodenum) ; this consists of three coats, one mucous, one muscular, and one serous, which is exterior. Tke interior or mucous cjat has a velvety appearance, and is folded in wrinkles, so as to admit of much extension. When thus extended,, certain appendages arc stimulated and secrete three more liquids required for digestion. They are the gastric, pancreatic, and biliary juice. Tlio chemistry of these different agents in the progress of digestion has, during our time, been most minutely investigated. Tho saliva consists of a mixture of liquids, which differ from each of tho three pairs of glands from which. they originate ; to tbeso a fourth liquid is added, the buoral, proceeding from tho lining membrane of tho whole mouth ; this mixture has the capacity of changing starch into grape sugar, and, further, into lactic acid, which in essential tonormal digestion. At the same lime the atmospheric oxygen is entangled in the saliva during mastication, and exerts an important influence in promoting the action of the saliva and gastric juice in the stomach. The practical lessons which we draw from these well-estab-lished facts are most important in a hygenic point of view. It deeply impresses us with tho importance of well-chewing our food, and with the injury which wo do ourselves by eating hastily, by w ashing down imperfectly masticated food with yrutor, tea, coffee, or something worse, and (whioh is the most injurious of all) by indulging in the bad habit of ■pitting, and thus intentionally wasting one of tbavroain substances required for a healthy digestion. The reist of the latter habit is a reduced quantity of urine secret?! or the kidneys, and a consequent iuorease of the saline ingredi • ents in the saliva, the salivary glands being thus induced to take up part of the functions of the kidneys ; and as Dr John W. Draper very forcibly remarks, the dirty habit of profuse spitting results in '< a practical conversion of the mouth into a urinary aqueduct." Another important fact has been discovered by physiologists, namely, thtit the saliva of an infant, before it has iti teeth, is incapable of converting starch into sugar. This explains at once why all attempts of substituting farinaceous food in place of mother's milk, in the case of infants, invariably fail ; such children cannot digest starch, and are underfed, or oven starved, dying finally of marasmus. Starch, arrowroot, tapioca, &c, are useless, being indigestible, for children before, they have cut their teeth. i The gastric juice,' which is the principal ingredient for digestion, consists chiefly of the solution of a substance which has been called pepsmc, and is remarkable from the fact that it contains nearly two per cent, of nitrogen, a larger amount than any other substance in the body. Tho gastric juico behaves, chemically, like a very strong acid, dissolving amo and iron under evolution of hydrogen ; and its digestive power it impeded by tho presence of any alkaline salt while it is increased by the presence of fat. The interior mucous membrane of the stomach, in which this gastric juice performs its functions, is reticulated ; and at the bottom of each compartment are tbo mouths of the socalled follicles, which, when seen under the microscope resemble the fingers of a glovo ; and every stomach contain* perhaps » million of them, each performing its absorbent function, as the Dolype extracts the nutritious parti of the food, which he envelopes with the bag of which he consists, rejecting afterward the undigested portion. A human stomach may thus be considered as a colony of polyps*, which do not labour for their own sole benefit, but (under the control of the vitality of the individual) for tho good of all, and of th* body which they arc destined to maintain.

Boally (obierres the Atutralatian) tbere is something sublime, colossal, titanic in the impudence of Dr Murray, of South fcea renown. It will be remembered that, elated with his success at Sydney in aiding at tbe prosecution and conrictiou of some of the miserable instruments of his rillnny, this man offered his services to the Government in tbe work of suppressing the labor trade, in the blackest scenes of which he hud just before been engaged. His offer was declined, and since that Murray dropped for a time out of sight. Now we hear that he has turned up iv London, and offered th» Secretary of State for the Colonies some information as to the best means ot suppressing slavery in the South Tacific. Lord Kimberley declined to have anything to do with Murray or his information, on which he determined to write a book on the subject, and took steps to secure a publisher. It seems that the late Bishop of Winchester, Dr Wilberf )rce, heard of the book, and thought that the Anti-Slavery Society might have it published under the auspices of tho sooiety. Murray may vet make a Tcry profitable thing out of his murderous expedition. Skilfully used, his orimta andS his narrow escape froii. tbo gallows would help the sale of the beok immensely.

The Otago J)ady Times of October 13, states that on the prMnge from Ljttelton & mare on board the Tnranaki drop, ped a foal during thr nisht. unknown to nnjone. The fint intimation of the fart wa* the foil running butt against one of the watch on deck, who got seared, and thought it wan a huge dog, but knowing there wasnonuon board, he wondered where the ereuturc came from. On recovering hi* composure, he found it was only an mnocunt that had left its mother. The little animal wai cared for, and with iU m other iafe.lv landed. In a report of the mechanical intentions shown at the Internationa! Exhibition, apropos of t!.e *and blast, the Rev A Rigg suggpsts tint there may be a pro|>erty in water which has not been utilised While standing, ho say, near a steam-boiler winch was being tested under water pressure, and when the load was near its maximum, -i -mn\\ and (r\ cept that the sun shone upon it so that the light was decomposed) imperceptible let appeared ; the writer was about to piss his finger across it, when a workman said, "Don't do that\ sir; ■"* boy had his finger cut off with one of those jets." Might not a jet of water be xised a< a s-iw ' The business of going to bed, as performed by th ( > late monarch of unretolutioni«ed France, was euriou» At 11 o'clock came the officers on dut> and the courtier . Eventhing «H ready :ft splendid toilette tnble w ith la'e and gold brocade, the dre'sing-gown of white embroidered L\on< silk on a chair of red morocco, the cheniNe wrapped in a piece of taffetv ; on the railing a double cushion of the cloth of cold, called Sultan, with the nightcap and handkerchief* on it Bv it were the «lipper* of tho sune material as the co« n pi iced near pages of the chamber, standing agai «t the railing The monarch arrived, the fir-t gentleman of the chamber reieived his hat and sword, and handed them to un under-official. Tho King commenced a conversation with the courtier*, that was longer or shorter according us he found it plei«ant, find wa* often much too long for our sleepine** and we.in h'2* After tho conversation «m finnhed the King went within the railing, knelt with the clmpluin-in-wiutiiig alone,who held 11 long taper-stand of silver gilt, with two tapers while the princes could only have one. The chaplain recited the prsMT, "QußSiimusomnipotens Oeiis;" and when the prater was finished, the taper-stand was handed to the first sen ant of the chamber, and he, at the King's orders, gave it to am gentleman to be distinguished. Thi* honour wa* jo much appreciated in France, that many aspirant* could not disguise their disjrmt ll they did not obtain it. . . . After the prayer the Kins took od" \w* coat, the right sleeTe being held by tho grand master of the wardrobe, the Duke de Liancourt, and tho left by a master of the first rank, M. do Boisgelin or de Chauvclin, and always in descending order, if the higher officers were not present. Then the King took his shirt • it was given him by the first gentleman of the chamber. But if one of the princes of the blood was present, it was he who n«d the right to put on the nightshirt, which wa* considered a great honour. Then the first gentleman of the chamber presented the dressing-gown to the King, whilst he took hi* purse, an immense bunch of kevs his telescope, amfiknifo from his pockets; and let his snnll clothes fall down upon his heels, and standing thus would often again converse for a long time. At last lie ?at down in an arm-chair; ft servant of the chamber on the right, one of the wardrobe on tho left, knelt down, and each took one of the King's feet to pull off his stockings ; then tho two pages of the chamber advance and put on his slippers. That was the time for departure ; the usher gave, the signal, saying " Pass, gentlemen." No one remained but the Princes, the special service, and those who had the In tie entree. They talked to the King while hit hnir was being prepared for* the night. That was the time for pleasant speeches and little anocdotes ; and the free noisy laugh of Louis XVI. often struck on our ears m tho (Ed de Uoeuf, where he awaited orders for the next day. Before Louis XVI. was absorbed by his troubles, bedtime was his tune for relaxation and fun. He played trick* on the pages, teased Captain Laroche, and mado them tickle an old officer, who was so sensitive that he used to run away for fear of it. — Memoirs of ft Page of Louis XVI.