CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE PHYSIOLOGY OF THE GASTRIC SECRETION

Abstract

The methods used by others (vital dyes, cyanamin bichloride and neutral red and iron salts) for the study of the site of formation of the hydrochloric acid of the gastric secretion have been applied to Pawlow pouch dogs in which the effect of the agent on gastric secretion could be observed and a portion of the gastric mucosa could be removed and examined with a minimum loss of time. Iron salts should be used with caution for physiological purposes, because of their toxicity. The observations of Harvey and Bensley using cyanamin are confirmed, but a primary stage was observed following excision of the mucosa for examination, during which the cytoplasm of the parietal cell stains acid to neutral red. Two other succeeding stages are described confirmatory of those described by Harvey and Bensley. The authors confirm Collip''s (''20) observations on the regional secretory activity of the mucosa. Such procedures as "stunning" abolished gastric secretion. It is concluded that under the experimental conditions obtaining the canaliculi and cytoplasm of the active parietal cell were acid to neutral red and alkaline to cyanamin, i.e., somewhere between pH 3.0 and 6.8.